Biology:Tetralonia malvae

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Short description: Species of bee

Tetralonia malvae
Mallow Longhorn.jpg
Mallow longhorn (Tetralonia malvae), Pfaffenhofen, Germany
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Tetralonia
Species:
T. malvae
Binomial name
Tetralonia malvae
(Rossi, 1790)
Synonyms[1]
  • Tetralonia macroglossa (Illiger, 1806)

Tetralonia malvae, also known as the Mallow longhorn, is a species of insect belonging to the family Apidae.[2] The bee takes pollen from oligolectic sources on the mallow family (Malvaceae).[3]

Behaviour

They generally nest on bare or sparsely overgrown ground, even to heavily sloping surfaces, or in steep walls in self-dug corridors in the earth, often in aggregations. The preferred substrate is sand, loess or loess clay. The nest consists of a corridor that can branch out. The brood cells are more or less upright and are inside with a shiny layer coated.[3] The species inhabits dry and warm locations; vineyards, fallow and ruderal areas, sand and clay pits, steep banks, from plains to the montane altitude level.[3]

Parasitism

They are parasitised by the cuckoo bee species Triepeolus tristis. Another nest parasite is a bladder-head fly of the genus Conops.[3]

Flight period

They can be seen in one generation from June to August.[3]

Distribution

The species is found from Spain, across southern and central Europe, southern Russia, Asia Minor and Caucasus to Central Asia; north to Lithuania and Orenburg; south to Sicily, Crete, Syria, Iraq and Northern Iran.[3]

References

Wikidata ☰ Q2256820 entry