Amegilla BeeAmegilla (Asaropoda) bombiformis Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni Amegilla (Asaropoda) rhodoscymna Amegilla chlorocyanea Amegilla chlorocyanea – blue-banded Amegilla chlorocyanea – bubbling bee

The amazing Dawson’s Burrowing Bees, Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni, is certainly a bee much sought after for photographing by bee lovers. The following images were taken on Babbage Island, Carnarvon, Western Australia.

Female Dawson's Burrowing Bee, Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni on Trichodesma zeylanicum © Marc Newman
Female Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni on Trichodesma zeylanicum © Marc Newman

One of the largest Australian bee species, up to 23 millimetres in length and with a 45 millimetres wingspan, the Dawson’s burrowing bee is an exceptional looking bee that can sometimes be seen nesting in the thousands across arid claypans in Western Australia.

Female Dawson's Burrowing Bee, Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni on Trichodesma zeylanicum © Marc Newman
Female Dawson's Burrowing Bee, Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni on Trichodesma zeylanicum © Marc Newman
Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni on Trichodesma zeylanicum © Marc Newman

With the exception of their faces, the male bees are covered in brown hairs, whilst the female have brown and white hairs. The bees are covered in brown fur, if male, or brown and white fur if female. They are a long tongued bee of the genus Amegilla, the same genus as other popular bees commonly called Blue Banded Bees and Teddy Bear Bees.

Dawson's Burrowing Bees, Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni Babbage Island, Carnarvon, WA © Marc Newman
Dawson’s Burrowing Bees, Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni, Babbage Island, Carnarvon, WA © Marc Newman

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  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Hexapoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Informal: Pterygotes
  • Order: Hymenoptera
  • Superfamily: Apoidea
  • Informal: Apiformes
  • Family: Apidae
  • Subfamily: Apinae
  • Tribe: Anthophorini
  • Genus: Amegilla
  • Subgenus: infrageneric Asaropoda
  • Species: Amegilla dawsoni

Footnote & References

  1. Photograph Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni, WA © Marc Newman, Flickr, https://flickr.com/photos/koolbee/albums
  2. Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni (Rayment, 1951), Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:85de7add-8456-492f-b479-ad478e21d17d
  3. Dawson’s bee, PaDIL, https://www.padil.gov.au/pollinators/pest/main/138585
  4. Amegilla dawsoni, iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/893439-Amegilla-dawsoni
  5. ‘So fluffy they’re like teddy bears’: thousands of native bees emerge in Western Australia, by Calla Wahlquist, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/22/so-fluffy-theyre-like-teddy-bears-thousands-of-native-bees-emerge-in-western-australia

BeesAmegilla Bee Austroplebeia australis Bees Anatomy Bee Behaviour Ceylalictus perditellus Colletidae European Honey Bee Euryglossinae Homalictus Hyleoides bivulnerata Lipotriches Megachile Meroglossa Stenotritidae Thyreus Xylocopa aerata