Mason bee
Mason bee | |
---|---|
Osmia bicornis | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Megachilidae |
Subfamily: | Megachilinae |
Tribe: | Osmiini |
Genus: | Osmia Panzer, 1806 |
Type species | |
Apis bicornis Linnaeus, 1758
| |
Species | |
>300 species, including |
Mason bee is a name now commonly used for species of bees in the genus Osmia, of the family Megachilidae. Mason bees are named for their habit of using mud or other "masonry" products in constructing their nests, which are made in naturally occurring gaps such as between cracks in stones or other small dark cavities. When available, some species preferentially use hollow stems or holes in wood made by wood-boring insects.[1]
Species of the genus include the orchard mason bee O. lignaria, the blueberry bee O. ribifloris, the hornfaced bee O. cornifrons, and the red mason bee O. bicornis. The former two are native to the Americas, the third to eastern Asia, and the latter to the European continent, although O. lignaria and O. cornifrons have been moved from their native ranges for commercial purposes. Over 300 species are found across the Northern Hemisphere. Most occur in temperate habitats within the Palearctic and Nearctic realms, and are active from spring through late summer.[2]
Osmia species are frequently metallic green or blue, although many are blackish and at least one rust-red. Most have black ventral
Historically, the term mason bee has also been used to refer to bees from a number of other genera under Megachilidae such as Chalicodoma, most notably in "The Mason-Bees" by Jean-Henri Fabre and his translator Alexander Teixeira de Mattos in 1914.[3]
Life cycle
Unlike honey bees (
When the bees emerge from their
Osmia females typically nest in narrow gaps and naturally occurring tubular cavities.
Within a few days of mating, the female has selected a nest site and has begun to visit flowers to gather pollen and nectar for her nests; many trips are needed to complete a pollen/nectar provision mass.[6] Once a provision mass is complete, the bee backs into the hole and lays an egg on top of the mass.[7] Then, she creates a partition of "mud", which doubles as the back of the next cell.[7] The process continues until she has filled the cavity.[7] Female eggs are laid in the back of the nest and male eggs toward the front.
Once a bee has finished with a nest, she plugs the entrance to the tube, and then may seek out another nest location.[7]
Within weeks of hatching, the larva has probably consumed all of its provisions and begins spinning a cocoon around itself and enters the pupal stage, and the adult matures either in the fall or winter, hibernating inside its insulatory cocoon.[8][9] Most Osmia species are found in places where the temperature drops below 0 °C (32 °F) for long durations and they are well-adapted to cold winters; chilling seems to be a requirement for maturation.[2] Some species of mason bees are semi-voltine, meaning that they have a two-year maturation cycle, with a full year (plus) spent as a larva.[1]
Anatomy and morphology
Osmia share a basic anatomy with all bees and most insects; the main functional regions being the head, thorax, and abdomen. On the head, Osmia have three small ocelli, two large compound eyes, antennae, and a mouth. On the thorax, Osmia have six legs and four wings. The abdomen of females contains a scopa for pollen-collecting, absent in males. Although the scopa is usually located on the legs in most bees, it lies underneath the abdomen for Osmia and other genera in the family Megachilidae.[10]
Pollination
Osmia can pollinate very efficiently, which is largely attributed to their anatomy and behavior. Unlike most other bee species that collect pollen from their hind legs, female Osmia and other bees in the family Megachilidae use pollen-collecting hairs from their abdominal scopa. When Osmia transfer pollen to flowers, dry pollen falls from the scopa onto the flower's stigma, facilitating pollination at nearly every visit. Osmia typically pollinate early spring flowers in the family Rosaceae, and will even forage under poor weather conditions.[11]
Some farmers currently manage populations of Osmia to facilitate efficient pollination on their farms. However, using non-native Osmia species as managed pollinators has ignited the spread of disease, introducing invasive bee species that increase competition for native bees. In some areas, native Osmia species are in decline as of 2020; practices to minimize the impact of non-native pollinators on wild species include prioritizing the use of native bee species, raising local bee populations, and enforcing parasite/disease screening.[12]
Management
Solitary bees produce neither honey nor beeswax. They are immune from
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0801885730.
- ^ .
- ^ Fabre, Jean-Henri (1914). The Mason-Bees. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.
- .
- National Geographic, 218 (6).
- PMID 20233258.
- ^ S2CID 3194027.
- S2CID 56412104.
- .
- ^ "The Insects: An Outline of Entomology, 5th Edition | Wiley". Wiley.com. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
- .
- PMID 33127931.
- S2CID 1942186.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - S2CID 54663884.
Further reading
- Dogterom, Margeriet (2002). Pollination with Mason Bees: A Gardener's Guide to Managing Mason Bees for Fruit Production. Beediverse Publishing. ISBN 9780968935705.
- Bosch, Jordi; Kemp, William J. (2001). How to manage the blue orchard bee. Sustainable Agriculture Network Handbook Series. p. 98. ISBN 978-1888626063. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
External links
- Osmia Identification Guide (female)
- Osmia Identification Guide (male)
- List of Species
- Worldwide Species Map
- Palaearctic Osmiine Bees