Hylaeus sanguinipictus
Hylaeus sanguinipictus is a bee species endemic to Western Australia. It was described in 1914 from material collected in Yallingup by Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell as Prosopis sanguinipicta.[1]
| Hylaeus sanguinipictus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| male | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Colletidae |
| Genus: | Hylaeus |
| Species: | H. sanguinipictus |
| Binomial name | |
| Hylaeus sanguinipictus (Cockerell, 1914) | |
Like its relative the banksia bee (Hylaeus alcyoneus), H. sanguinipictus's expression of sexual dimorphism is unusual — the males of the species are larger than the females; in most other types of bee, females are larger than males. The males perch and defend Banksia inflorescences while waiting to mate with females, and combat other males.[2]
Western Australian banksias that the bee has been recorded visiting include B. menziesii and B. prionotes.[2]
References
- Cockerell, T.D.A. (1914). "Descriptions and records of bees. LXII". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8 (14): 49–57 [54].
- Alcock, John; Heuston, Terry F. (1996). "Mating Systems and Male Size in Australian Hylaeine Bees (Hymenoptera: Colletidae)". Ethology. 102 (4): 591–610. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1996.tb01151.x.
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