Latest Articles from Alpine Entomology Latest 4 Articles from Alpine Entomology https://alpineentomology.pensoft.net/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 18:02:30 +0200 Pensoft FeedCreator https://alpineentomology.pensoft.net/i/logo.jpg Latest Articles from Alpine Entomology https://alpineentomology.pensoft.net/ A new osmiine bee with a spectacular geographic disjunction: Hoplitis (Hoplitis) onosmaevae sp. nov. (Hymenoptera, Anthophila, Megachilidae) https://alpineentomology.pensoft.net/article/118039/ Alpine Entomology 8: 65-79

DOI: 10.3897/alpento.8.118039

Authors: Matthieu Aubert, Andreas Müller, Christophe Praz

Abstract: A new osmiine bee species, Hoplitis (Hoplitis) onosmaevae sp. nov. (Megachilidae), is described. So far, this species is exclusively known from the Mercantour National Park in the southwestern French Alps and from mountainous ranges in Turkey and northern Iraq, two areas separated by at least 2000 km. Phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes revealed that H. onosmaevae is closely related to H. adunca (Panzer, 1798), H. benoisti (Alfken, 1935) and H. manicata (Morice, 1901). Hoplitis onosmaevae is presumably narrowly oligolectic and harvests pollen only on flowers of Onosma L. (Boraginaceae). It has a particularly long proboscis, which is probably an adaptation to collect nectar from the long-tubed flowers of this plant genus. The females collect pollen by buzzing the Onosma flowers, a rare behavior in megachilid bees. The species nests in insect burrows in dead wood, similar to H. adunca and H. manicata but unlike other closely related representatives of the subgenus Hoplitis, suggesting a single origin of nesting in dead wood and hollow stems in this lineage. In France, H. onosmaevae inhabits alpine steppe-like habitats close to forests and appears to be extremely local, since only two populations are currently known. The conservation status of this extremely rare bee species in Europe is discussed.

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Research Article Wed, 20 Mar 2024 09:56:34 +0200
Nesting in bark – the peculiar life history of the rare boreoalpine osmiine bee Osmia (Melanosmia) nigriventris (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) https://alpineentomology.pensoft.net/article/34409/ Alpine Entomology 3: 105-119

DOI: 10.3897/alpento.3.34409

Authors: Andreas Müller, Rainer Prosi, Christophe Praz, Henning Richter

Abstract: Osmia (Melanosmia) nigriventris (Zetterstedt) is a predominantly boreoalpine megachilid bee species, whose biology is poorly known due to its pronounced rarity all over Central Europe. The discovery of 19 nests in the Grisons and Valais (Switzerland) allowed for the investigation of its nesting biology and prompted the assessment of the species’ host-plant spectrum, phenology and distribution. All nests were in thick bark pieces of Larix decidua, which lay in grassy vegetation on sun-exposed ground of open subalpine forests dominated by larch. The nests contained 1–26 brood cells constructed within one to several burrows tunneled out by the female bees with their specialized mandibles, which are distinctly stronger than those of related O. (Melanosmia) species known to nest in preexisting cavities or loose soil. The linearly arranged brood cells were separated from each other by three-layered partitions consisting of an interlayer of densely packed small bark particles sandwiched between two thin layers of chewed green leaves (“leaf pulp”). DNA metabarcoding of several nest plugs revealed that Potentilla (Rosaceae) and Helianthemum (Cistaceae) served as source of the leaf pulp. Anthrax anthrax (Bombyliidae) and Sapyga similis (Sapygidae) parasitized the brood cells of O. nigriventris as shown by DNA barcoding of prepupae overwintering in the host’s nests. O. nigriventris is mesolectic and harvests pollen almost exclusively on Fabaceae (e.g. Lotus, Hippocrepis), Ericaceae (Rhododendron, Vaccinium) and Cistaceae (Helianthemum). Depending on the altitude, O. nigriventris emerges from the beginning of May to the first decade of June and thus qualifies as an early flying bee active in spring and early summer similar to the other European O. (Melanosmia) species. It likely needs two years for its development in the subalpine zone of the Alps and overwinters as prepupa in the first and probably as imago in the second winter. O. nigriventris has a Holarctic distribution, its disjunct Palaearctic range encompasses the boreal zone from Scandinavia eastwards to the Russian Far East, the Caucausus, the Alps as well as scattered locations at lower altitudes throughout Central Europe, where it is regarded as a glacial relict and has probably suffered strong declines during the last decades.

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Research Article Mon, 20 May 2019 15:48:49 +0300
Dual function of Potentilla (Rosaceae) in the life history of the rare boreoalpine osmiine bee Hoplitis (Formicapis) robusta (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) https://alpineentomology.pensoft.net/article/30158/ Alpine Entomology 2: 139-147

DOI: 10.3897/alpento.2.30158

Authors: Andreas Müller, Henning Richter

Abstract: Hoplitis robusta (Nylander) is a rare and poorly known osmiine bee species occurring in the subalpine zone of the Alps. The discovery of two nests of H. robusta in a thin branch of a dead fallen spruce on a sunny clearing of a subalpine spruce forest allowed the investigation of the nest architecture, the analysis of the larval diet and the assessment of the nest building material. X-raying, computed tomography and subsequent dissection of the nest branch revealed that the nests were built in L-shaped pupation tunnels of cerambycid beetles, which were probably cleaned from wood debris by the female bees with the aid of their large and powerful mandibles after nest site selection. The two nests contained five and six linearly arranged brood cells separated from each other by thin partitions built from masticated green leaves (“leaf pulp”). They were sealed at their opening by a thick plug consisting of several successive layers of leaf pulp constructed immediately behind each other. Microscopical analysis of the larval provisions of eight brood cells and of 41 pollen loads of females from museum and private collections showed that H. robusta exhibits a strong preference for the pollen of Potentilla (Rosaceae). Based on field observations, DNA metabarcoding of one nest plug and stereomicroscopic analysis of the leaf pulp matrix, Potentilla was also identified as an important source for the leaf pulp needed for nest construction, rendering H. robusta one of the few bee species known to collect floral resources and nest building material from the very same plant.

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Research Article Tue, 20 Nov 2018 10:23:01 +0200
Pollen host selection by predominantly alpine bee species of the genera Andrena, Panurginus, Dufourea, Megachile, Hoplitis and Osmia (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) https://alpineentomology.pensoft.net/article/29250/ Alpine Entomology 2: 101-113

DOI: 10.3897/alpento.2.29250

Authors: Andreas Müller

Abstract: The pollen host selection by 19 bee species, which have their main Central European distribution in the Alps, was assessed by microscopical analysis of the scopal contents of about 900 females from museum and private collections. The results of the pollen analyses were complemented by a literature survey as well as by field observations. The examined species widely vary in pollen host spectrum and specialization, revealing a fascinating diversity in bee host plant use. Observed patterns of host plant choice range from narrow specialists, which exclusively collect pollen from the flowers of a single plant genus, to pronounced generalists, which harvest pollen from the flowers of up to 17 different plant families. A quantitative character is given to separate the morphologically very similar females of Panurginus herzi and P. montanus.

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Research Article Mon, 22 Oct 2018 09:26:59 +0300