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
Hylaeus sanguinipictus (subgenus Prosopisteron, subfamily Hylaeinae) is a native bee species that is endemic to Western Australia.
Like the relative Hylaeus alcyoneus, the Hylaeus sanguinipictus males of the species are larger then the female. In most other species of native bees, it is the female that is larger then the male.
Pictured here is the male Hylaeus sanguinipictus on spent Banksia glaucifolia flowers in the Badgingarra National Park, Western Australia.
One of the behaviours of the male Hylaeus sanguinipictus is that they are seen on Banksia inflorescences, defending it against other males, whilst waiting to mate with the female of the species.
Some of the Western Australian banksias that Hylaeus sanguinipictus have been recorded visiting include Banksia menziesii, Banksia prionotes, and as pictured here Banksia glaucifolia.
This species was first described in 1914 from material collected in Yallingup by Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell as Prosopis sanguinipicta.3
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Hymenoptera
- Superfamily: Apoidea
- Informal: Apidformes
- Family: Colletidae
- Subfamily: Hylaeinae
- Genus: Hylaeus
- Subgenus: infrageneric Prosopisteron
- Species: Hylaeus sanguinipictus
Footnote & References
- Hylaeus (Prosopisteron) sanguinipictus (Cockerell, 1914), Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Hylaeus (Prosopisteron) sanguinipictus
- Blood-painted Masked Bee (Hylaeus sanguinipictus), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/1141523-Hylaeus-sanguinipictus
- Cockerell, T.D.A. (1914). “Descriptions and records of bees. LXII”. Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8 (14): 49–57 [54].
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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