Africa Wild

Larrine Cricket Hunter Liris sp., possibly Liris haemorhoidalis or Liris bembesianus
Superfamily Apoidea. Family Crabronidae. Subfamily Crabroninae. Tribe Larrini

© Michele Nel
Kruger National Park

Liris is a relatively large genus with 314 species recognized, with ca. 30 species from southern Africa.
Wasps in the genus Liris are solitary predatory wasps, provisioning nest constructed in ground or plant stems with paralyzed adult Orthoptera, Hemiptera or Lepidoptera caterpillars for consumption by the wasp larvae. Some observations suggest that crickets of the family Gryllidae may be the exclusive prey of this genus. Liris species prefer to use pre-existing burrows or galleries in the soil for nesting and rarely excavate their own burrows.

The diagnosis for Liris Fabricius is as follows: lateral ocellus reduced, flat and small; frons just below median ocellus with a transverse swelling extending from eye to eye and interrupted by median frontal line, and a linear swelling along inner orbit which joins transverse swelling to form an M shape; mandible simple, most species with a conspicuous notch on outer margin, mostly with one or two teeth on inner margin; pronotal collar, scutum, scutellum and metanotum punctuate, punctures longer than one to less than one diameter apart; forewing with three submarginal cells; pronotum is angular in dorsal view, and gaster without petiole.

L. haemorrhoidalis has a reddish-ferruginous body, gaster covered by golden pubescences. Body length 13-20 mm, female larger.

Links:
https://www.waspweb.org/Apoidea/Crabron ... /index.htm

Sand Wasp Stizus sp.*
Family: Crabronidae. Subfamily: Bembicinae. Tribe: Bembicini. Subtribe: Stizina
* ID by Dr. Simon van Noort (Iziko Museum curator)

Genus Stizus (Latreille,1802)
Stizus are mostly medium sized to large, stoutly built wasps. Many are boldly coloured in black and yellow with some red markings.

Distribution
Stizus is the third most species diverse genus in the Bembicinae with 120 species recognized (Pulawski 2010). It is widespread in temperate and tropical regions but has not been recorded from South America, Australia and Southeast Asia. About 22 species are known from southern Africa.


Wasp nectaring on Western Honey Mesquite Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana






Kgaladi Transfrontier Park, Twee Rivieren Camp by ExF

Biology
Solitary predatory wasps. Typically multicellular nests are excavated in friable soil and each cell is provisioned with grasshoppers, katydids, or mantids. The fully fed larva constructs a firm, oval parchment cocoon.


Links:
https://www.sanbi.org/sites/default/fil ... ies-24.pdf
https://www.waspweb.org/Apoidea/Crabron ... algadi.htm

Large Dauber Megachile Megachile (Maximegachile) maxillosa
Superfamily Apoidea. Family Megachilidae. Subfamily Megachilinae. Tribe Megachilini

© ExFmem
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

The bee genus Megachile Latreille, 1802 accounts for a significant proportion of most bee faunas. In its current delineation, this genus includes more than 1400 species in 55 subgenera. These subgenera are distributed in two groups based on nesting biology: the leafcutter species, which cut leaf discs to line their brood cells; and the dauber bees, which use resin or mud to build their cells.
The five dauber subgenera of Megachile that occur in southern Africa are: Gronoceras, Maximegachile, Callomegachile, Chalicodoma and Pseudomegachile. This group comprises 43 valid species.

Subgenus Maximegachile.
Large species, body length above 14 mm. Vestiture predominantly black except snow white on posterior parts of mesosoma and on T1 and T2. Clypeus very short, truncate apically, with truncation forming a nearly vertical, shiny surface. Mandible elongate, more or less parallel-sided or narrowest preapically, with three blunt teeth without cutting edge; mandibular ridges shiny, not dulled by microsculpturing. Hypostomal area with a strong posterior tooth. Ocelloccipital distance nearly twice the interocellar distance.

M. maxillosa occurs as two distinct morphs in the male sex: a large morph (body length approximately 20 mm) with clypeus entirely glabrous and covered by coarse punctures on its disc; and a smaller morph (body length approximately 15 mm) with clypeus covered by dense vestiture at least apically and with finer punctures.
In both sexes, Maximegachile maxillosa have a typical vestiture pattern: hairs are predominantly black except snow white on the propodeum, on T1 and the basal part of T2.
Females have an elongate, 3-toothed mandible, a modified clypeus and a strong hypostomal tooth.

Distribution
Megachile maxillosa is recorded from Senegal, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the UAE.

Flower visiting
Megachile maxillosa has been commonly collected visiting flowers in the semi-arid to arid areas of South Africa and Namibia where it was collected from flowers of Acan-thaceae, Apocynaceae (Asclepiadoideae), Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae (Caesalpi-noideae, Mimosoideae and Papilionoideae), Pedaliaceae and Polygalaceae, although in Namibia it was most commonly visiting Papilionoideae, most notably species of Crotalaria.

Nesting
Largely unknown.
Four nests of Megachile maxillosa were constructed in trap-nests (UAE). The walls of the cells, the cell closures and the nest closure were constructed from a mixture of sand and resin. Resin is a common nest-building material among numerous species of mason bees, also known as resin bees. Previously, it has been suggested that apart from making the nest waterproof, the plant secretions may contain substances that fend off parasites.
The nests of megachilid bees, like those of other solitary bees, consist of a series of cells; each cell is provisioned with a mixture of pollen and nectar and sustains the growth of a single larva.

© ExFmem
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Twee Rivieren

Links:
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... eserve_UAE
https://jhr.pensoft.net/article/11255/

Potter Wasp Delta caffrum
Family: Vespidae. Subfamily: Eumeninae

© ExFmem
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Identification
Long waisted wasp. Distinctively marked with black and yellow, black cross on the abdomen. Petiole is black with yellow markings.

Distribution
Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, South Africa, Sudan.

Biology
Females build multi-celled mud nests attached to plants. Water for making mud is collected from pools. She suspends an egg from the roof of each nest cell before introducing paralyzed caterpillars.

Links:
http://www.waspweb.org/Vespoidea/Vespid ... affrum.htm

Sand Wasp Bembix capensis  (Lepeletier, 1845)
Family: Crabronidae Subfamily: Bembicinae
Tribe: Bembicini Subtribe: Bembicina


Kgalagadi TP, Twee Rivieren Camp by ExF

Subfamily Bembicinae
The subfamily Bembicinae, commonly known as sand wasps, is currently (Pulawski 2010) constituted of 79 genera divided between three tribes, Alyssontini, Bembicini and Nyssonini. Of these genera, 18 are represented in the Afrotropical Region.

Tribe Bembicini
The tribe Bembicini sensu Pulawski (2010), is constituted of 62 genera divided into six subtribes Bembicina, Exeirina, Gorytina, Handlirschiina, Heliocausina and Stizina, all but two (Exeirina and Heliocausina) being represented in the Afrotropical Region.

Subtribe Bembicina
Of the 17 genera listed for Bembicina, all but Bembix are strictly New World genera. Bembix is, by contrast, cosmopolitan and is well represented in the Afrotropical Region including southern Africa.

Genus Bembix (Fabricius)
Bembix, with 346 species recognised (Pulawski 2010), is by far the most species rich of the Bembicinae. It is most diverse in the Afrotropical and Australian Regions, however, only about 43 species have been recorded from southern Africa.

Biology: All species of Bembix for which nesting has been described excavate multicellular sloping burrows in friable soil. They typically prey on flies of various families, and hunt their prey on the wing. They tend to find a good source of flies, often decaying organic matter such as feces and corpses, but also flowers, and return to it repeatedly. The prey is held ventral side up, close beneath the wasp by the middle pair of legs when she is in flight. On nearing the nest, the wasp moves the fly back so that her approach to the nest is very ‘tail heavy’. She alights at the concealed nest entrance and immediately clears the sand with her forelegs whilst standing on her hind legs and continuing to hold the prey with her middle legs. Opening of the nest and entry into it are rapid so that little opportunity is given to the satellite flies for larviposition. Most Bembix lay the egg on one of the prey, usually the first prey to be placed in the cell, however, oviposition before the start of provisioning has been recorded for some extra-territorial species. Furthermore, most species of Bembix are progressive provisioners, that is, the larva is provided with fresh prey throughout its development. Typically there is only one female per nest.

Bembix capensis (Lepeletier, 1845)









Kgalagadi TP, Twee Rivieren Camp by ExF

Distribution
A widespread species from Egypt southwards to the south coast of South Africa



Flower associations: Recorded from seven plant families: Asteraceae (Geigeria sp. and Athanasia trifurcata ); Aizoaceae (Mesembryanthema, Psilocaulon salicornioides); Amaranthaceae (Hermstaedtia sp.); Apiaceae (Deverra aphylla ); Fabaceae (Mimosoideae, Acacia karroo ); Boraginaceae ( Anchusa capensis ); Apocynaceae (formerly Asclepiadaceae, Gomphocarpus filiformis)

Nesting: Unknown
Prey: Recorded taking six families of Diptera: Sarcophagidae, Tabanidae, Glossinidae, Calliphoridae, and Tachinidae.



Geographical distributions of Bembix (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae, Bembicinae) in southern Africa, with notes on biology https://jhr.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=1653/

https://www.sanbi.org/sites/default/fil ... ies-24.pdf

https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ejnh/ar ... 0967/59935

Wool Carder Bee Anthidium or Afranthidium sp.
Family: Megachiliidae Subfamily: Megachiliinae Tribe: Anthidiini

Wool carder bees are so named because the female bee scrapes and collects the soft downy hairs (trichomes) of fuzzy plants to use in building a nest for her young. Some consider male wool carder bees very charismatic and enjoy watching them chase after other bees that invade their territory, while others would call them bullies based on male bees’ aggressive tendencies. The males can often be seen jealously guarding a patch of flowers, fending off any interlopers by darting and chasing. If necessary, he will even wrestle a competitor to the ground—even bees much larger than himself, such as bumble bees and honey bees. Female wool carders are allowed into the guarded area to forage—in return for the chance to mate.

The highly diverse Megachilidae use a wide range of plant-derived brood cell-building materials, including plant leaves, mortar made from plant tissue, resin, plant hairs (“plant wool”), and plant trichome secretions.





Kgalagadi TP, Twee Rivieren Camp by ExF

Tribe Anthidiini

Anthidiini mostly have pallid markings on the integument and a small pterostigma, which is less than twice as long as wide. These are the carder bees. They mostly use plant fibre in nest construction and mostly collect pollen; some species, however, are parasitic. The genera and subgenera, especially males, are often difficult to separate and Michener (2007) should be consulted for additional information.

Genus Anthidium (Fabricius, 1804)

Anthidium can be identified by a combination of characters: straight subantennal suture; female tergum 6 with an apically depressed rim, posteromedian notch and lateral tooth, on angle or on shoulder.

Distribution
The genus occurs through the Holarctic and is widely spread in Africa.

Biology
Construct multi-celled nests out of resin, soil and plant fibres which are combed to a cotton-like texture using their mandibles. Nests often built in existing cavities in soil or stems. Nests are provisioned with a mix of pollen and nectar.

Genus Afranthidium (Michener, 1948)

The genus Afranthidium is a group of solitary bees with about 60 known species.
Afranthidium has five or more mandibular teeth, no arolia and the male tergum 5 has the distal margin depressed and more finely punctate than the remainder of the tergum.

Distribution
Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Also in the Palaearctic regions.

Biology
Afranthidium bees are a group of native bee species that do not produce honey but are likely to be important pollinators of crops and wild plants. They have long tongues and can feed on both deep and shallow flowers. Females have a sting, but they are not aggressive and will only sting if handled.

Nests: Construct multi-celled nests out of resin, soil and plant fibres which are combed to a cotton-like texture using their mandibles. They build their nests in sheltered locations in pre-existing natural cavities such as burrows, crevices and hollow twigs that can be found in less disturbed and dry habitats.
Nests constructed only from plant fibres are known for the following:
• Afranthidium (Afranthidium) hamaticauda
• Afranthidium (Branthidium) braunsi
• Afranthidium (Branthidium) micrurum
• Afranthidium (Immanthidium) junodi
• Afranthidium (Immanthidium) repetitum
• Afranthidium (Nigranthidium) concolor


https://www.sanbi.org/sites/default/fil ... ies-24.pdf (page 262)

https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/e ... m_bees.htm

http://www.waspweb.org/Apoidea/Megachil ... /index.htm

http://www.abctaxa.be/volumes/vol-7-bees/

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10 ... 00086/full

Cuckoo Wasp Hedychrum sp.
Superfamily: Chrysidoidea. Family: Chrysididae. Subfamily: Chrysidinae. Tribe: Elampini

© ExFmem

© ExFmem
Male, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park


Genus Hedychrum
Cuckoo-wasps of the genus Hedychrum are recorded in open areas and forest margins, often on sand. The majority of species inhabit the Eastern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Palaearctic and Africa.
Cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae) are well known for their parasitic (and typically cleptoparasitic) life history, in which, like the avian cuckoos, eggs are laid into the nests of other insects. The developing cuckoo wasp larva then consumes the host's eggs or larva and the provisions laid down for the host larva. Hosts are mainly aculeate Hymenoptera for members of the subfamily Chrysidinae. The hosts of Hedychrum spp are ground-nesting solitary wasps of the crabronid subfamily Philanthinae.
Middle sized to large cuckoo-wasps up to 10 mm in length. Pronotum rather long. Antennae thin, not tapering towards the apex.
Sexual dimorphism distinct: Hind femora of females are shiny metallic, in males the outer face non metallic dark, with short, dense pubescence (= covered with short hairs anteriorly).

Cuckoo Wasp Chrysis sp., likely of the oculata-group
Superfamily: Chrysidoidea. Family: Chrysididae. Subfamily: Chrysidinae. Tribe: Chysidini

© ExFmem
Note: 6 teeth on the last tergite

© ExFmem
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Chrysis spp. are grouped and one difference is the number of posterior teeth on the last tergite: apex of T3 with six teeth in the oculata group.

Chrysidids are most often seen on hot days, flying around or inspecting the nests of of their hosts when these are being worked upon. There is generally surprisingly little attempt by the hosts to drive away these intruders. It has been suggested that cuckoo wasps may employ chemical camouflage. Chrysis spp. are parasites of bees (Megachilidae) and wasps: Masarinae and Eumeninae (Vespidae); and Sphecidae sensu lato.

WaspWeb - Genus Chrysis

Small Carpenter Bee Ceratina (Pithitis) inermis
Family: Apidae. Subfamily: Xtylocopinae. Tribe: Ceratini

Female, Nelspruit © Richprins

Ceratina is a genus that comprises of about 350 species distributed throughout the world. Ceratina bees are closely related to the more familiar large carpenter bees (Xylocopa species). Ceratina are small carpenter bees. They share this common name with the Allodapini.
Ceratina bees are usually dark, shiny, even metallic bees, with relatively little body hair and a weak pollen carrying structure (scopa) on the hind tibia (second leg segment). Most species have some yellow markings, mostly only on the face but also often elsewhere on the body.

Description
Ceratina (Pithitis) inermis is a strongly sculptured, metallic (mostly blue) bee.
Head, mesosoma and metasoma metallic blue, mostly on rim of punctures, generally black between punctures. Scutum punctate (punctures several puncture diameters apart); yellow on almost entire clypeus (hat-shaped mark). Mandible straight. Axilla spinose. Terga 2-3 without graduli.

Distribution
Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa (north-eastern parts), Zimbabwe.

Biology
Ceratina are small, pollen collecting bees. They bore their nests into dry, mostly pithy, plant stems, and therefore have earned the common name of small carpenter bees. They divide a single nest tunnel, along its length, into separate cells (partitions made of wood shavings) much like large carpenter bees of the genus Xylocopa ; unlike most other small carpenter bees (allodapine bees) that do not divide their nests into cells.

Ceratina contributes to pollination, as an essential ecosystem service, and the species are negatively affected by the removal of dead stems from the ecosystem; through fire and the collection of fire wood.




Nelspruit © Richprins


Links:
https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/ENTS_S13_0001-0096.pdf

Osmiine Bee possibly Heriades or Afroheriades sp.
Superfamily Apoidea. Family Megachilidae. Subfamily Megachilinae. Tribe Osmiini

© ExFmem
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, MataMata

Tribe Osmiini
The osmiine bees constitute a tribe Osmiini within the family Megachilidae. The tribe Osmiini currently comprise 15 genera and approximately 1160 species worldwide; occur on all continents, with the exception of South America, Australia and Antarctica. They are especially diversified in the Mediterranean and desert climates of southern Africa, south-western North America and the Palaearctic.

The Osmiini have arolia (= small sticky cushion-like pads between the claws) on all legs, which separates them from Anthidiini and most Megachile.
They are mostly small bees with white crossbands on the metasomal dorsum and the scopa under the metasoma, in females, or the metasoma curled under posteriorly, in males. They are difficult to identify to genus, except Hoplitis, which is comparatively large.
They burrow in the ground, make aerial nests out of mud or resin and nests in hollow sticks. The genera and subgenera are often difficult to separate and Michener (2007) should be consulted for additional information.

This tribe comprises ten genera: Afroheriades, Haetosmia, Heriades, Hoplitis, Noteriades, Ochreriades, Othinosmia, Pseudoheriades, Stenoheriades and Wainia.

Genus Afroheriades Peters
This genus of minute to small black heriadiform coarsely punctate bees (< 10 mm in body length) is almost endemic to South Africa. Only Afroheriades dolichocephala is found in Namibia and South Africa. They are pollen collecting bees.

Diagnosis: Afroheriades can be distinguished from all other Osmiini by the combination of posterolateral angle of scutum with marginal ridge non-carinate, with dense patch of long hairs laterally and T1 with juncture between anterior and dorsal faces not carinate. Afroheriades is morphologically similar to Pseudoheriades sharing a two-segmented maxillary palpus, female T6 with distinct apical hyaline flange, male T7 quadrately surrounded by T6, and male S3 with gradulus projecting into thin, basal hyaline lamella. In addition to the characters that distinguish it from all other Osmiini, Afroheriades differs from Pseudoheriades in: pronotal lobe and omaulus rounded; and male S3 without midapical spine. In Pseudoheriades the pronotal lobe and omaulus are distinctly lamellate; marginal ridge of posterolateral angle of scutum carinate, without dense patch of long hairs; T1 with distinct carina separating anterior and dorsal surfaces; and male S3 with midapical spine.

Genus Heriades Spinola
With at least 97 species, Heriades is by far the biggest osmiine genus in Africa. They are pollen collecting bees. Heriades were likely named after the woolly patches found on the abdomen of several species, as Heriades means “wool”. Heriades bees are dark and of slender to medium build with fairly sparse body hairs. South African species can reach a length of 10.5 mm.
These bees are solitary bees with a variety of ground- and twig-nesting behaviours.
Heriades may be confused with bees within the genera Afroheriades and Stenoheriades, but Heriades can be distinguished by their short proboscis, which does not extend beyond the fossa.

Diagnosis: Arolia present. Metanotum with anterior margin carinate and projected upwards. Mouthparts short, not or scarcely exceeding proboscidial fossa in repose. Pronotal lobes carinate. Propodeum with horizontal basal zone consisting of a series of large pits, separated from declivous posterior surface by a carina. T1 anterior surface concave with a carina where the dorsal and anterior surfaces meet. Female S1 lacks apical spine. Male T7 is hidden by the untoothed T6. Male abdomen is usually curled, only exposing two sterna.

Links:
http://biodiversityadvisor.sanbi.org/wp ... -of-SA.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3253637/
http://idtools.org/id/bees/exotic/facts ... name=16570
http://idtools.org/id/bees/exotic/facts ... name=16626