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Amegilla atrocincta (Lepeletier)
(Life:
Kingdom: Metazoa (animals);
Phylum: Arthropoda;
Class: Hexapoda; Order:
Hymenoptera; Superfamily:
Apoidea; Family:
Apidae; Subfamily: Apinae; Tribe:
Anthophorini; Genus: Amegilla)
Anthophora atrocincta
Lepeletier, 1841. Type lost. Type locality: India.
Apis
plumipes
Fabricius, 1781
Type in MNHN. Type
locality: India.
Anthophora domicola
Cockerell, 1908
Type BMNH. Type locality:
Angola.
Anthophora latipes
Friese, 1922
Type in
ZMHB
Type
locality:
Tanzania. |
|
Karoo National Park, South Africa. Photograph © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa). |
Photograph © Connal
Eardley (ARC).
|
Distribution
|
Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Lesotho,
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania,
Zimbabwe (Eardley & Urban,
2010). |
Biology
|
Solitary, nests are constructed in clay-rich soils.
Females collect water to soften the clay enabling excavation of a
burrow. A turret entrance, up to 7cm in length, is constructed above the
burrow. They sleep in aggregations with their jaws embedded in grass
stems. Recorded visiting flowers of
Acalypha ornata,
Berkheya heterophylla, Blepharis capensis, Cleome elegantissima,
Cotyledon campanulata, Crotalaria sp., Melastoma sp.,
Pentzia incana, Peristrophe cernua, Salvia disermas, Senna italica,
Trichodesma angustifolium, mint (Eardley
& Urban, 2010). |
References
|
Eardley, C.D. 1994.
The Genus Amegilla Friese in southern Africa (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae).
Entomology Memoir No. 91, Department of Agriculture, Republic of South Africa
68 pp.
Eardley, C & Urban, R. 2010. Catalogue
of Afrotropical bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apiformes).
Zootaxa 2455: 1-548.
Eardley, C, Finnamore, A.T. & Michener, C.D. 1993. Superfamily Apoidea (pp.
279-357). In GOULET, H. & HUBER, J. (eds). Hymenoptera of the World:
an identification guide to families. Research Branch, Agriculture
Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 668 pp.
Eardley C.,Kuhlmann M., Pauly A. 2010.
The Bee Genera and Subgenera of sub-Saharan Africa. Abc Taxa vol 7: i-vi,
138 pp.
Michener, C.D. 2000. The Bees of the World. Johns Hopkins
University Press. 953 pp. |
Credits
|
Photographs © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa),
or
Photograph © Connal
Eardley (ARC).
|
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