Bees of the Azores: an annotated checklist (Apidae, Hymenoptera)
Author
Weissmann, Julie A.
Author
Picanco, Ana
Author
Borges, Paulo A. V.
Author
Schaefer, Hanno
text
ZooKeys
2017
642
63
95
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.642.10773
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.642.10773
1313-2970-642-63
E8512D085E224794AE2331FA1F1BD606
E8512D085E224794AE2331FA1F1BD606
Hylaeus signatus (Panzer)
Description.
Medium-sized black bee (total length 7-9 mm in both sexes, wing length 4.5-5.5 mm in females and 4-6 mm in males) with roundish face and conspicuous yellowish-white face markings, without curved grooves (fovea) along eye margin; mandibles and legs black; white hair bands on lateral sides of tergite 1 (Fig. 6b).
Distinguishing features.
Relatively large; male with mask not exceeding insertion point of antennae (Fig. 5 c), female face pattern with the two spots larger than in
Hylaeus pictipes
and more triangular in outline (Fig. 5e);
Reseda
specialist.
General
distribution.
Madeira (introduced); North Africa; Eurasia, from Portugal in the West to northern Scandinavia and Uzbekistan in the East.
Distribution in the Azores.
All islands except
Sao
Jorge.
First record.
2001 (Santa Maria; H. Schaefer, unpublished data).
Nesting.
In existing cavities (twigs, earth, abandoned nests of other
hymenoptera
, etc.), sometimes in dense aggregations.
Social behaviour.
Solitary bee.
Foraging.
Oligolectic, usually
Reseda
specialist, but in the Azores also observed on
Tamarix africana
(
Tamaricaceae
).
Phenology.
June-August.
Material.
Corvo (Vila do Corvo), 04.08.2014, 1 male; Graciosa, June 2012, 3 females, 7 males on
Tamarix
; Terceira (airport), 08.08.2014, 1 female, 1 male; Santa Maria, 1 female, all leg. H. Schaefer, coll. TUM (B8-B20; B45).
The COI sequence of specimen H. Schaefer B12 (TUM), acc. no. KX824778, is identical to a
Hylaeus signatus
sequence from Germany (KJ837965, see Fig. 2).