Hylaeus spp – Masked BeeHylaeus Index Hylaeus albonitens Hylaeus alcyoneus Hylaeus constrictiformis Hylaeus douglasi Hylaeus elegans Hylaeus dromedarius Hylaeus euxanthus Hylaeus maiellus Hylaeus nubilosus Hylaeus (Prosopisteron) Hylaeus proximus Hylaeus ruficeps Hylaeus (Prosopisteron) sanguinipictus Hylaeus theodorei Hylaeus trilobatus Hylaeus violaceus Hylaeus vittatifrons
This specimen was thought to belong to Hylaeus dromedarius, however…
One of the things I noticed with your bee was the break in the yellow collar, which isn’t evident in the H. dromedarius photos I’ve seen. I’ve noticed it can be something as subtle as this that can mean a different species.1
Hylaeus dromedarius is a species in the genus Hylaeus, a large diverse cosmopolitan group within the bee family Colletidae. The genus is also commonly known as the Masked Bees and Yellow-faced Bees, although not all members have yellow faces, some members of the genus have white markings on their face. Hylaeus dromedarius has the yellow face markings.
This Hylaeus sp was rescued from a swimming pool in Alice Springs. Once it was dry enough, it then flew away.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Hymenoptera
- Superfamily: Apoidea
- Informal: Apiformes
- Family: Colletidae
- Subfamily: Hylaeinae
- Genus: Hylaeus
- Subgenus: infrageneric Euprosopellus
- Species: Hylaeus dromedarius
Footnote & References
- Many thanks to Danny Thomas for input (now only ID to genus), member of Bee Aware of Your Native Bees (Australia), https://www.facebook.com/groups/1493769094196721
- Hylaeus Fabricius, 1793, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Hylaeus
- Dromedary Masked Bee (Hylaeus dromedarius), Ausemade observation, iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/251657852
- Hylaeus (Euprosopellus) dromedarius (Cockerell, 1910), Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Hylaeus (Euprosopellus) dromedarius
Hylaeus spp – Masked BeeHylaeus Index Hylaeus albonitens Hylaeus alcyoneus Hylaeus constrictiformis Hylaeus douglasi Hylaeus elegans Hylaeus dromedarius Hylaeus euxanthus Hylaeus maiellus Hylaeus nubilosus Hylaeus nubilosus Mud nest Hylaeus nubilosus Yellow Mask / White Mask Hylaeus (Prosopisteron) Hylaeus proximus Hylaeus ruficeps Hylaeus (Euprosopoides) ruficeps ruficeps Hylaeus (Prosopisteron) sanguinipictus Hylaeus theodorei Hylaeus trilobatus Hylaeus violaceus Hylaeus vittatifrons
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