Austrothurgus rubricatus

Austrothurgus Austrothurgus rubricatus

Photographs © Marc Newman ◦

Formerly Lithurgus rubricatus, now Austrothurgus rubricatus are pictured here gorging on the large grains of pollen of the hibiscus.

I was delighted to see these bees again (Austrothurgus rubricatus). The last time I saw them was March 2015 on the same Hibiscus bush. This bush flowers over a long period and the bee can accommodate that flowering range.

What I noticed this time, were the bee flying speedily from flower to flower coming to a (very brief) halt in front and then moving on to the next flower. Eventually they will find a flower that pleases them and that is the time for photos. How they determine suitability is possibly by pheromones though I guess they may be able to see what they are looking for.

I’d love to see the males roosting and the nests of the females.

I realised later that the hi-speed bees would be the males, just checking to see if there were any females hiding in the flower.

Author Marc Newman

The Australian government site PaDIL name host family plants to include Convolvulaceae, Cucurbitaceae and Malvaceae, with one of the specific flowering genera Hibiscus L. (Malvaceae).

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• Scientific classification
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Subphylum: Hexapoda
• Class: Insecta
• Informal: Pterygotes
• Order: Hymenoptera
• Superfamily: Apoidea
• Informal: Apiformes
• Family: Megachilidae
• Subfamily: Lithurginae
• Tribe: Lithurgini
• Genus: Austrothurgus
• Species: Austrothurgus rubricatus

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Austrothurgus Austrothurgus rubricatus

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