An unusual new paracolletine bee, Leioproctus (Ottocolletes) muelleri subgen. & sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Colletidae): with notes on nesting biology and in‐burrow nest guarding by macrocephalic males

Abstract

Leioproctus muelleri sp. nov. is described from south-western Australia, and a new subgenus, Ottocolletes, is established to contain it. The species is remarkable for the relatively enormous head and mandibles of its males. Both sexes were encountered at nesting sites in a dry, winter-wet depression where pollen-laden females were observed entering holes in the ground and males flew close to the ground surface. Four nests in which females were constructing and provisioning cells were occupied also by single males. Patrolling males stopped frequently to inspect burrow entrances and occasionally entered but usually backed out quickly apparently repelled by occupant males. Skirmishes observed and photographed at nest entrances revealed that fighting males grasp their opponent's head in their mandibles. Male macrocephaly in this species almost certainly is associated with mate-guarding or progeny-guarding behaviour. Observations are presented also on nest architecture, pollen provisions and dormant larvae that survive inundation of the nesting area during winter. 1 2 Figs 1,2. Leioproctus muelleri, habitus of adults. (1) Male. (2) Female. Scale bar = 5 mm.An unusual new paracolletine bee 249

Phenology of a bee (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) community over a 10 year period in south‐eastern Australia

“…For families Colletidae, Stenotritidae or Megachilidae, inferences about emergence times and number of generations per annum have been drawn, with varying degrees of confidence, from collection data and field observations (Houston 1987; Houston 1991; Houston & Maynard 2012). Leioproctus plumosus has been shown to be multivoltine (Batley & Brandley 2014), while Leioproctus fulvus , whose nests are accompanied by conspicuous tumuli, is apparently univoltine (MB pers.…”

Nesting biology of the Australian solitary bee Paracolletes crassipes Smith (Hymenoptera: Colletidae) accords with that of the Diphaglossinae

“…This is the pattern recorded for certain diphaglossines in the genera Diphaglossa Spinola, Ptiloglossa Smith and Zikanapis Moure (= Caupolicana Spinola) (Roberts 1971;Rozen 1984;Sarzetti et al 2013). Nest architecture of neopasiphaeines is poorly documented but lateral burrows of some species radiate from the lower end of the shaft (Michener 1960;Houston and Maynard 2012) while those of Lonchopria cingulata are concentrated about the shaft's lower extremities (Michener and Lange 1957).…”

Keystone resources available to wild pollinators in a winter‐flowering tree crop plantation

“…These results agree with the majority of findings that suggest bees prefer open areas over dense forests, particularly in rangeland, temperate or semi‐arid systems (Grundel et al , ; Hoehn et al , ; Proctor et al , ). Leaf litter can also be a limiting factor for bee communities in Mediterranean environments because many species prefer to excavate their nests into bare ground (Potts et al , ), including species found in our system (Knerer & Schwarz, ; Houston & Maynard, ), and this could explain the negative relationship seen here between bee abundance and both ground cover and leaf litter. By contrast, bee species richness was positively associated with ground cover vegetation, although the relationship was weak.…”

“…We were unable to determine whether understorey attributes were important for bees during winter because we collected no bees in July and only four individuals in August; however, this was most likely a result of our passive sampling method, which was unable to detect hibernating or larval‐stage insects. Many of the bee species that we collected are known to nest in the ground (Knerer & Schwarz, ; Houston & Maynard, ) and active sampling for nest sites and brood cells would reveal more information about their nesting habits in our system.…”