Masked Bee ( Hylaeus sp. ) | |
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IDENTIFICATION | |
Identification: | Hylaeus sp. (Fabricius, 1793) |
Common Name: | Masked Bee |
Life Stage: | A |
PHYLOGENY | |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Superorder: | Holometabola |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Suborder: | Apocrita |
Family: | Colletidae |
Subfamily: | Hylaeinae |
Genus: | Hylaeus |
Taxon Code: | HYM00458 |
ITIS TSN#: | 154346 |
LOCATION DETAILS | |
Location | |
Martin Luther King Regional Shor, Garretson Point, Garretson Point Trail, Francisco Bay Trail, Oakland | |
County: | Alameda County |
ECI Site#: | CAEB330000 |
Park/Forest: | Martin Luther King Regional Shoreline, EBRPD |
RECOGNITION | |
These are small, black and yellow/white wasp-like bee species. The resemblance to wasps is enhanced by the absence of ventral abdominal hairs used to collect pollen, a feature typical among bees. Hylaeus often have the clypeus (plate above the labium) yellow to which it owes its name masked bee. | |
BIOLOGY | |
Nesting | |
Like most colletids, the liquid provisions are sealed inside a membranous cellophane-like cell lining; nests are typically in dead twigs or plant stems, or other similarly small natural cavities, rather than constructing or excavating their own nests as in many other bees. | |
Distribution | |
Worldwide | |
HABITAT | |
CREDITS | |
Photographer Eddie Dunbar | |
REFERENCES | |