Africa Wild

Unidentified Carpenter Bees Xylocopa sp
Family: Apidae. Subfamily: Xylocopinae. Tribe: Xylocopini


© BluTuna
Male

© BluTuna
Male

© BluTuna
Male

Links:
https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520 ... 28789_2631

Unidentified Carpenter Bees Xylocopa sp
Family Apidae. Subfamily Xtylocopinae. Tribe Xylocopini


Female, Nelspruit © The Spotted Genet

Unidentified Carpenter Bee Xylocopa sp
Family Apidae. Subfamily Xylocopinae. Tribe Xylocopini


© BluTuna
Female, garden in Johannesburg

Digger Bee Amegilla sp.
Superfamily Apoidea; Family Apidae; Subfamily Apinae; Tribe Anthophorini



© BluTuna
Male, Garden in Johannesburg.

Links:
http://www.waspweb.org/Apoidea/Apidae/A ... /index.htm

Great-jawed Resin Bee Megachile maxillosa
Family Megachilidae. Subfamily Megachilinae. Tribe Megachilini

© BluTuna
Garden in Johannesburg

Carpenter Bee
Family Apidae. Subfamily Xylocopinae. Tribe Xylocopini

© BluTuna
Male, Garden in Johannesburg.




Xylocopa bees are a bee species that do not produce honey but are important pollinators of crops and wild plants. Male and female individuals have different coloration. The genus Xylocopa is a diverse, widely distributed group of solitary bees. Worldwide, there are about 500 species of carpenter bees representing 31 subgenera.



Links: Atlas Hymenoptera

Mammoth Wasp Campsomeriella caelebs
Superfamily Vespoidea. Family Scoliidae. Subfamily Scoliinae. Tribe: Campsomerini

© BluTuna

© BluTuna
Kruger National Park, Shingwedzi (May 2015)


© BluTuna
Garden in Johannesburg (April 2014)

Biology
External parasitoids of beetle larvae (mostly Scarabaeidae) that live in soil or decaying vegetable matter

Links:
http://waspweb.org/Vespoidea/Scoliidae/ ... /index.htm

Family Halictidae
The Halictidae are a very large and nearly cosmopolitan family of the order Hymenoptera consisting of small to midsize bees. These bees are easy to identify because they are mostly metallic gold, or very pale green or blue. They are commonly referred to as sweat bees (especially the smaller species), as they are often attracted to perspiration; when pinched, females can give a minor sting. All species are pollen feeders and may be important pollinators.
Nests are typically underground burrows, with several ovoid ‘cells’ in which pollen mixed with nectar is provided as food for the developing larvae; a single egg is laid on a pollen mass, and the cell is sealed.
The Halictidae are short-tongued bees with one subantennal suture, a pointed glossa and a strongly curved basal vein in the forewing. Within the short-tongued bees the shape of the basal vein is unique; some long-tongued bees have a weakly curved basal vein.
This is the largest family of short-tongued bees in the Afrotropical Region. It accounts for about one-third of all the Afrotropical bee species, and this family is possibly the most abundant because many species occur in large numbers.
There are 16 genera and four subfamilies:
Subfamily Nomiinae
Subfamily Nomioidinae
Subfamily Halictinae
Subfamily Rophitinae

Subfamily Nomiinae
The Nomiinae, in large, have the first and third submarginal cells in the forewing subequal in length and distinctly longer than the second submarginal cell. The exception is Steganomus, which has only two submarginal cells, and is the only halictid genus in Africa with two submarginal cells. They are all pollen collecting bees. They nest in tunnels in the ground.

Genus Spatunomia
Spatunomia was described for two widely separated, large (13-15 mm) species with a dark red metasoma without hairbands.
There is a strong preoccipital carina in the male. The pronotum lacks a carina (except on the pronotal lobe) but extends across in front of, and at the level of, the scutum, so that the scutum does not bend down to the pronotum.
The most remarkable features of the genus are the simple mandibles in the female and the pedunculate last antennal segment in the male, which has a slender base and a broad flattened apical region.
They occur in widely separated areas, in Sudan and southern Africa.

Links: The Bees of the World. Charles Duncan Michener