''Sphecodes gibbus'', the dark-winged blood bee, is a species of

cleptoparasitic Kleptoparasitism (etymologically, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, which can mean when fo ...

blood bee from the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Si ...

. It is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

Sphecodes ''Sphecodes'' is a genus of bees from the family Halictidae, the majority of which are black and red in colour and are colloquially known as blood bees. ''Sphecodes'' bees are kleptoparasitic on other bees, especially bees in the genera '' Lasio ...

'' and was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

as ''Sphex gibba'' in 1758.

Description

''Sphecodes gibbus'' is a relatively large ''Sphecodes'' species with a body length of around 10mm. Like other blood bees they are mainly black and red in colour. ''S. gibbus'' is one in three species of similar sized blood bees in which the females have punctures, instead of merely rugosity, to the posterior of the

ocelli A simple eye (sometimes called a pigment pit) refers to a form of eye or an optical arrangement composed of a single lens and without an elaborate retina such as occurs in most vertebrates. In this sense "simple eye" is distinct from a multi-le ...

. The female ''S. gibbus'' may be separated from the similar '' S. monilicornis'' by its wider, less square shaped head, the darker pubescence on the hind tibiae and thinner

propodeum The propodeum or propodium is the first abdominal segment in Apocrita Hymenoptera ( wasps, bees and ants). It is fused with the thorax to form the mesosoma. It is a single large sclerite, not subdivided, and bears a pair of spiracles. It is ...

. The broader zone of punctures to the rear of the ocelli allow separation from '' S. reticulatus'', ''S. gibbus'' having 5-6 irregular rows of punctures rather than the 2-3 shown by ''S. reticulatus'', as well as possessing sparser punctures at the base of the fourth

tergite A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; plural ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod segment other than the head. The anterior edge is called the 'base' and posterior edge is called the 'apex' or 'mar ...

. The wings of female ''S. gibbus'' also tend to be darker in color than those in other blood bees and tergites 1 and 3 are often partly darkened. The males are the only male ''Sphecodes'' with abundant punctures located in rows at the back of the ocelli, their genitalia are also distinctive.

Distribution

''Sphecodes gibbus'' is found throughout the Palearctic, although it is known from only two sites in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In Europe it extends north to 63° N and its range extends into North Africa, and east into China and

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...

Habitat

''Sphecodes gibbus'' uses the same habitat as its host species and is often seen flying over bare ground as it searches for the nests of its host bees. It does prefer warmer open areas with bushes, especially in the more northerly parts of its range.

Biology

Female ''Sphecodes gibbus'' can be found between April and September; early season females search for nests of their host species to parasitise, while late season females search for mates and subsequently for an overwintering site. The males are in flight from July to September. The females are cleptoparasites on larger bees of the genera ''

Halictus The genus ''Halictus'' is a large assemblage of bee species in the family Halictidae. The genus is divided into 15 subgenera, some of dubious monophyly, containing over 200 species, primarily in the Northern Hemisphere (a few species occur in So ...

'' and ''

Lasioglossum The sweat bee genus ''Lasioglossum'' is the largest of all bee genera, containing over 1700 species in numerous subgenera worldwide.Gibbs, J., et al. (2012)Phylogeny of halictine bees supports a shared origin of eusociality for ''Halictus'' and ...

'', entering the hosts' nests when the cells are completed, consuming the host egg and laying its own, with the new generation emerging in late summer to mate and overwinter. It has been confirmed as using ''

Halictus quadricinctus The genus ''Halictus'' is a large assemblage of bee species in the family Halictidae. The genus is divided into 15 subgenera, some of dubious monophyly, containing over 200 species, primarily in the Northern Hemisphere (a few species occur in So ...

'', '' H. rubicundus'', '' H. sexcintus'', '' H. simplex'' and '' H. maculatus'' as hosts, while it is also likely to parasitise ''

Lasioglossum malachurum ''Lasioglossum malachurum'', the sharp-collared furrow bee, is a small European halictid bee. This species is obligately eusocial, with queens and workers, though the differences between the castes are not nearly as extreme as in honey bees. Ea ...

''. The principal host in England and Belgium is ''H. rubicundus''. Other species have been claimed but not confirmed, including ''

Andrena vaga ''Andrena vaga'', the grey-backed mining bee, is a species of solitary bee which is found in most of Europe but which is very rare in Great Britain, where it may be recolonizing in the south-east after previously being extirpated. It specialises i ...

'' and ''

Colletes cunicularius ''Colletes cunicularius'', the vernal colletes or spring mining bee, is a species of solitary bee from the family Colletidae which is widespread in the Palearctic from Britain to the Pacific Ocean which nests in areas of open, sandy soil. Descri ...

'' both of which are regarded as unlikely hosts. However, with such a wide distribution a number of host species may be used. The adults feed only on nectar, and seem to show a preference for flowers of the families

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae ...

and

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plant ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2452563 Halictidae Insects described in 1758 Hymenoptera of Europe Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus