Title
Nest site selection and nesting behavior of the bee Lithurgopsis apicalis (Megachilidae, Lithurginae)
Title Variants
Alternative:
Nests of Lithurgopsis apicalis
Related Titles
Series:
American Museum novitates, no. 3796
By
Rozen, Jerome G. Jr. (Jerome George), 1928-
Hall, H. Glenn.
Type
Book
Material
Published material
Publication info
New York, NY, American Museum of Natural History, [2014], ©2014
Notes
Caption title.
"February 6, 2014."
This paper reports on the biology of Lithurgopsis apicalis (Cresson) that were found excavating nests in the dead and dying flower/seed stalks of Agave in southern Arizona. Females normally gain entry to the soft inner tissue of the stalk by seeking out naturally occurring longitudinal cracks in the hard outer surface of the stalk. Once inside they chew branching tunnels through the soft plant tissue, at the end of which are one or more extremely elongate brood cells. The cells were normally found to contain one or more eggs, each in a small empty pocket entirely within the provisions of soft pollen, which completely filled the cell. The attachment of the egg to the provisions is described, as is the egg itself. The first four larval instars remain attached to the provisions while the elongate fifth (final larval) instar is free from the provisions and starts defecating while still eating the food, which gradually intermixes with fecal pellets. Toward the end of defecation, larvae start spinning strands of silk to form cocoons. After finishing spinning, larvae enter diapause, becoming quiescent over a period of more than a week. However, when in diapause, they still react to touch by curling and uncurling their bodies unlike totally quiescent diapausing larvae of most bees. Cocoon structure and function are described. Throughout the paper, aspects of nesting biology of this species are compared with those of other lithurgines. New details concerning the cocoon of Trichothurgus dubius (Sichel) are presented, and ovarian statistics for Lithurgopsis apicalis are appended.
Subjects
Agaves
,
Arizona
,
Bees
,
Behavior
,
Cochise County
,
Cocoons
,
Diseases and pests
,
Insects
,
Lithurginae
,
Lithurgopsis apicalis
,
Nests
,
Trichothurgus dubius
Call Number
QL1 .A436 no.3796 2014
Language
English
Identifiers
OCLC:
869899974
Find in a local library