''Osmia latreillei'' is a species of

mason bee 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 ...

belonging to the family

Megachilidae Megachilidae is a cosmopolitan family of mostly solitary bees. Characteristic traits of this family are the restriction of their pollen-carrying structure (called a '' scopa'') to the ventral surface of the abdomen (rather than mostly or exclu ...

subfamily Megachilinae.

Subspecies

Subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

include: * '' Osmia latreillei iberoafricana'' Peters, 1975 * '' Osmia latreillei latreillei'' (Spinola, 1806)

Distribution

This species is mainly found in central and southern Europe including countries such as

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Occasionally, these bees have also been found in North Africa and the Middle East.

Biology

Females of this species dig tunnels in the ground, where they create cells at the tunnel's end. These cells are stocked with pollens, and eggs are laid in each one. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae feed directly on the pollen grains for about thirty days. The bees overwinter in the stage of prepupae. In the spring, they enter the pupal stage, while the adults emerge by the end of March. The flying season typically lasts from April through July. The bees are

oligolectic The term oligolecty is used in pollination ecology to refer to bees that exhibit a narrow, specialized preference for pollen sources, typically to a single family or genus of flowering plants. The preference may occasionally extend broadly to m ...

, gathering pollen only from

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

species.Wafa, A. K. & A. A. El-Berry, 1972b. Nesting behaviour of ''Osmia latreillei'' Spin. and ''Osmia submicans'' Mor. Hymenoptera: Megachilidae. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Egypte 55: 363-372 However, adults have been observed feeding on a variety of plants from different families, including '' Reichardia picroides'' (

), '' Echium angustifolium'' (

Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the Borago, borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs in 146 to 154 genus, genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single famil ...

), ''

Vicia villosa ''Vicia'' is a genus of over 240 species of flowering plants that are part of the legume family (Fabaceae), and which are commonly known as vetches. Member species are native to Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Some other g ...

'' (

Leguminosae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

), ''

Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae. Euphorbias range from tiny annual plants to large and long-lived trees, with perhaps the tallest being ''Eu ...

'' spp. (

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

), '' Salvia verticillata'' (

Labiatae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, sav ...

), ''

Rosmarinus officinalis ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is a member of the sage family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean r ...

'' (

) and ''

Morina persica ''Morina'' is a genus flowering plants in the family Caprifoliaceae. It includes 14 species native to Eurasia, ranging from southeastern Europe through Western and Central Asia to the Himalayas, China, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. It is named in hon ...

'' (

Dipsacaceae The Dipsacaceae were recognized as a family (the teasel family) of the order Dipsacales containing 350 species of perennial or biennial herbs and shrubs in eleven genera. It was published by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in his book ''Genera planta ...

References

External links

Biolib
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1874583 latreillei Hymenoptera of Europe Insects described in 1806 Taxa named by Maximilian Spinola