Banksia bee

Banksia bee

Taxobox | name = Banksia bee
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
subordo = Apocrita
familia = Colletidae
subfamilia = Hylaeinae
genus = "Hylaeus"
species = "H. alcyoneus"
binomial = "Hylaeus alcyoneus"
binomial_authority = Erichson, 1842

The Banksia bee ("Hylaeus alcyoneus") is a bee species endemic to Australia where it is commonly found in the coastal heaths of Western Australia. This bee is an important pollinator of "Banksia" species.

The species is notable amongst bees for sexual dimorphism — the males of the species are significantly larger that the females; in most other types of bee, females are larger than males. [Cite journal |quotes=no |author=Dean R. Paini & Winston J. Bailey |year=2002 |title=Seasonal sex ratio and unbalanced investment sex ratio in the Banksia bee "Hylaeus alcyoneus" |journal=Ecological Entomology |volume=27 |pages=713–719 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2311.2002.00459.x] Males of different sizes have been shown to display different feeding behaviour. Large males perch and defend "Banksia" inflorescences that are in high positions on the shrub where they feed; small males feed closer to the ground and patrol circuits including several inflorescences. Displacement of large males from the perches is almost always by an even larger male. [cite journal |quotes=no |author=J. Alcock |year=1994 |title=Body size and its effect on male-male competition in "Hylaeus alcyoneus" (Hymenoptera: Colletidae) |journal=Journal of Insect Behavior |volume=8 |pages=149–159 |url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/r6354356q2705436/ |doi=10.1007/BF01988901]

The Banksia bee faces competition from the introduced European honey bee ("Apis mellifera"). In sites where the species coexist, the Banksia bee has significantly fewer nests that it has on sites where there is no competition. [cite journal |quotes=no |author=D. R. Paini & J. D. Roberts |year=2002 |title=Commercial honey bees ("Apis mellifera") reduce the fecundity of an Australian native bee ("Hylaeus alcyoneus") |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=23 |pages=103–112]

References


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