Hylaeus sanguinipictus
| Hylaeus sanguinipictus | |
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| male | |
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| Species: | H. sanguinipictus
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| Binomial name | |
| Hylaeus sanguinipictus (Cockerell, 1914)
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Hylaeus sanguinipictus is a bee species endemic to Western Australia. It was described in 1914 from material collected in Yallingup by Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell as Prosopis sanguinipicta.[1]
Like its relative the banksia bee (Hylaeus alcyoneus), H. sanguinipictus displays sexual dimorphism—the males of the species are larger than the females; in most other types of bee, females are larger than males. The males perch and defend Banksia inflorescences while waiting to mate with females, and combat other males.[2]
Western Australian banksias that the bee has been recorded visiting include B. menziesii and B. prionotes.[2]
References
- ^ Cockerell, T.D.A. (1914). "Descriptions and records of bees. LXII". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8 (14): 49–57 [54].
- ^ a b Alcock, John; Heuston, Terry F. (1996). "Mating Systems and Male Size in Australian Hylaeine Bees (Hymenoptera: Colletidae)". Ethology. 102 (4): 591–610. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1996.tb01151.x.