''Anthidium oblongatum'', the oblong woolcarder bee, is a species of

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

, the leaf-cutter, carder, or

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 ...

s. It is native to Eurasia and north Africa, and has also been introduced to North America.

Range

This species is found in Eurasia from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

via southern, central and eastern Europe,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, southern

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and Siberia (east to

Tuva Tuva (; ) or Tyva (; ), officially the Republic of Tyva,; , is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. Tuva lies at the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders the Federal subjects of Russia, federal sub ...

) as well as via Asia Minor, the Caucasus to the Central Asian mountains and, if the information from Wu (2006) applies, to

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

. In Europe, it is found northwards to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, central

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

; south to

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

(not in Corsica and Sardinia),

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

(not in Crete and Cyprus),

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. It has also been reported in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. It was found introduced to the eastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1995, and can now be found throughout northeastern North America, Colorado, Utah, and the Pacific Northwest of North America.

Habitat

''A. oblongatum'' prefers warm and dry locations such as flowering grasslands, hedges, and dry stone walls. It can also be found in

ruderal A ruderal species is a plant species that is first to colonize disturbed lands. The disturbance may be natural for example, wildfires or avalanchesor the consequences of human activities, such as construction ( of roads, of buildings, mining, e ...

sites such as weathering heaps, road embankments, railway embankments, flood dams, also in the settlement area (flowering fallow areas, rock gardens). The nesting sites are often spatially separated from the pollen sources and nesting props. From the lowlands to the montane elevation.

Ecology

The flight period is in one generation from mid-June to early August. ''A. oblongatum'' uses cavities to create the nest. Wherever 5–6 mm wide, horizontal crevices are available (dry stone walls, slatey, weathered rocks), these are preferred to be populated. But other cavities also serve as nesting places, for example passage-like cavities in the house, which are also used by ''

Anthidium manicatum ''Anthidium manicatum'', commonly called the European wool carder bee, is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae, the leaf-cutter bees or mason bees. They get the name "carding, carder" from their behaviour of scraping hair from leaves such ...

''. The brood cells are made from vegetable wool. The species populates gardens, especially those that also have suitable food plants and sources of building material. ''A. oblongatum'' dabs the outside of the nest with rust-colored glandular secretions. ''A. oblongatum'' is found almost exclusively on

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

, especially on ''Lotus spec''. or ''

Onobrychis __NOTOC__ ''Onobrychis'', the sainfoins, are a genus of Eurasian perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plants of the legume family (Fabaceae). About 206 species are presently accepted. The Flora Europaea lists 23 species of ''Onobrychis''; the m ...

spec''., on

Crassulaceae The Crassulaceae (, from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the crassulas, the stonecrops or the orpine family, are a diverse Family (biology), family of dicotyledon angiosperms primarily characterized by succulent leaves and a form of phot ...

, especially ''

Sempervivum ''Sempervivum'' () is a genus of about 40 species of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Crassulaceae, commonly known as houseleeks. Other common names include liveforever (the source of the taxonomical designation ''Sempervivum'', l ...

spec''. and ''

Sedum ''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succule ...

spec''. or on

Resedaceae Resedaceae is a family of mostly herbaceous dicotyledonous plants comprising 107 known species in 8 to 12 genera. 11 genera are currently accepted:

collecting pollen. ''

Lotus corniculatus ''Lotus corniculatus'' is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae. Common names include common bird's-foot trefoil, eggs and bacon, birdsfoot deervetch, and just bird's-foot trefoil (a name also often applied to other ''Lotus'' spp.). It ha ...

Onobrychis viciifolia ''Onobrychis viciifolia'', also known as ''O. sativa'' or common sainfoin () was an important forage legume in temperate regions until the 1950s. During the Green Revolution it was replaced by high yielding alfalfa and clover species. Due to its ...

'' and '' Sedum reflexum'' are preferred. Parasites: In France, '' Stelis punctulatissima'' was raised from a nest of ''A. oblongatum''. Another breeding parasite, according to observations from Germany and Switzerland, is very likely to be '' Chrysis marginata''.

Etymology

From Latin "oblongatum" = "elongated, elongated"; Illiger does not provide any information on choosing the name.

Taxonomy

Subgenus Proanthidium Friese, 1898 Anthidium oblongatum-pjt1.jpg, Copula Anthidium oblongatum-carding wool.jpg,

Carding In Textile manufacturing, textile production, carding is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver (textiles), sliver suitable for subsequent processing. This is achieved by passi ...

wool

References

External links

Images
oblongatum Insects described in 1806 {{Anthidium-stub