TrichocolletesTrichocolletes dives Trichocolletes orientalis Trichocolletes pulcherrimus Trichocolletes rufibasis

Images and Author Gary Taylor â—¦

Trichocolletes pulcherrimus on Gastrolobiums sp © Gary Taylor
Trichocolletes pulcherrimus on Gastrolobiums sp © Gary Taylor

Windy, cloudy crappy day for bees, but not as windy and crappy as the two previous days and it’s my last day off before work starts again so with little hope of finding anything, let alone anything new, (doesn’t matter, I just need a bush run…) we set off… So, not expecting to see much I was stoked to be in the right place at the right time when this big gorgeous girl popped in 😃 Trichocolletes

Later, I was to find out that she is a Trichocolletes pulcherrimus.

Author Gary Taylor
Trichocolletes pulcherrimus on Gastrolobiums sp © Gary Taylor
Trichocolletes pulcherrimus on Gastrolobiums sp © Gary Taylor

Another quickie, so after a fantastic day of finding the bee I’d been searching for, then getting the bonus of finding another one I’d been looking for but wasn’t expecting to see, as we were leaving for the home run, in the car and driving, I spotted this big beautiful one high up on a Tea Tree. I had to reach up with the camera and guess the shots so they’re not great but hopefully good enough for an ID. Again not sure but I’m also thinking Trichocolletes on this one too.

Author Gary Taylor

Abstract. The endemic Australian bee genus Trichocolletes is revised. Forty species are recognised, including twenty-three new species: Trichocolletes aeratus, T. albigenae, T. avialis, T. brachytomus, T. brunilabrum, T. capillosus, T. centralis, T. dundasensis, T. fuscus, T. gelasinus, T. grandis, T. lacaris, T. leucogenys, T. luteorufus, T. macrognathus, T. micans, T. nitens, T. orientalis, T. platyprosopis, T. serotinus, T. simus, T. soror and T. tuberatus. Four new synonymies are proposed: Paracolletes marginatus lucidus Cockerell, 1929 = T. chrysostomus (Cockerell, 1929); T. daviesiae Rayment, 1931 = T. venustus (Smith, 1862); T. marginatulus Michener, 1965 = T. sericeus (Smith, 1862); T. nigroclypeatus Rayment, 1929 = T. venustus (Smith, 1862). Trichocolletes rufus (Rayment, 1930) is moved to Leioproctus and T. rufopilosus (Rayment, 1935) to Anthoglossa. Descriptions are given for new species and redescriptions for species described before 1965, including first descriptions of males of T. aureotinctus (Cockerell), T. burnsi Michener, T. latifrons (Cockerell) and T. maximus (Cockerell) and the females of T. dowerinensis Rayment and T. rufibasis (Cockerell). Lectotypes are designated for Lamprocolletes venustus Smith and Anthoglossa plumata Smith. Keys to species are provided for both sexes, as are distribution maps and a summary of recorded floral visitation.

Revision of the Australian Bee Genus Trichocolletes Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Colletidae: Paracolletini), Michael Batley (Australian Museum) and Terry F Houston (Western Australian Museum),
Trichocolletes (Callocolletes) pulcherrimus on Urodon dasyphylla, Coolgardie, WA © Marc Newman
Trichocolletes (Callocolletes) pulcherrimus on Urodon dasyphylla, Coolgardie, WA © Marc Newman

  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Hexapoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Informal: Pterygotes
  • Order: Hymenoptera
  • Superfamily: Apoidea
  • Informal: Apiformes
  • Family: Colletidae
  • Subfamily: Neopasiphaeinae
  • Genus: Trichocolletes
  • Species:
    • Trichocolletes aeratus Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes albigenae Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes aureotinctus (Cockerell, 1906)
    • Trichocolletes avialis Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes brachytomus Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes brunilabrum Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes burnsi Michener, 1965
    • Trichocolletes capillosus Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes centralis Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes chrysostomus (Cockerell, 1929)
    • Trichocolletes dives (Cockerell, 1914)
    • Trichocolletes dowerinensis Rayment, 1931
    • Trichocolletes dundasensis Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes eremophilae Houston, 1990
    • Trichocolletes erythrurus (Cockerell, 1914)
    • Trichocolletes fuscus Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes gelasinus Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes grandis Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes hackeri (Cockerell, 1913)
    • Trichocolletes lacaris Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes latifrons (Cockerell, 1914)
    • Trichocolletes leucogenys Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes luteorufus Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes macrognathus Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes marginatus (Smith, 1879)
    • Trichocolletes maximus (Cockerell, 1929)
    • Trichocolletes micans Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes multipectinatus Houston, 1990
    • Trichocolletes nitens Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes orientalis Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes platyprosopis Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes pulcherrimus Michener, 1965
    • Trichocolletes rufibasis (Cockerell, 1929)
    • Trichocolletes sericeus (Smith, 1862)
    • Trichocolletes serotinus Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes simus Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes soror Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes tenuiculus Rayment, 1931
    • Trichocolletes tuberatus Batley & Houston, 2012
    • Trichocolletes venustus (Smith, 1862)

Footnote & References

  1. Trichocolletes pulcherrimus, Photographs and content © Gary Taylor
  2. Trichocolletes pulcherrimus, Photographs and content © Marc Newman, Flickr, https://flickr.com/photos/koolbee/albums
  3. Revision of the Australian Bee Genus Trichocolletes Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Colletidae: Paracolletini), Michael Batley (Australian Museum) and Terry F Houston (Western Australian Museum), https://media.australian.museum/media/Uploads/Journals/24792/1589_complete.pdf
  4. Trichocolletes pulcherrimus Michener, 1965, Classification, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/d16f6868-17e6-4ec0-bd78-170a7e733774#classification

TrichocolletesTrichocolletes dives Trichocolletes orientalis Trichocolletes pulcherrimus Trichocolletes rufibasis

BeesBees Anatomy Bee Behaviour Blogging Bees… Bees – image index Unidentified Australian Native Bees Amegilla Bees Apis mellifera Austroplebeia australis Austrothurgus  Braunsapis sp Ceylalictus perditellus Colletidae Euryglossinae Exoneura Hyleoides bivulnerata Lasioglossum Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) Lasioglossum (Homalictus) Leioproctus pappus Lipotriches Megachile Meroglossa Stenotritidae Tetragonula Thyreus Xylocopa