Meroglossa rubricataBubbling Meroglossa rubricata Colour Variation Communication Female and Male Flower Selection Nesting Threats
Images and Author Gary Taylor ◦
Like a number of native bees, Meroglossa rubricata are known to “bubble”.
“Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble…” OK, that might not have been the original words from Macbeth, but it does come mind when I see “a bee bubble”, which by the way, is a process by which the bee concentrates the nectar that they have collected from flowers, sort of like would you like water with your upmarket scotch.
Many native bee species are know to indulge in “blowing bubbles”. As well as the genus Exoneura, other genus include Lasioglossum, subgenus Homalictus, the species Amegilla chlorocyanea, as well as many of the bees from the family Colletidae who are known “bubbles blowers”.
Following are a great series of imagery of the Meroglossa rubricata bubbling in the nest…
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Hymenoptera
- Superfamily: Apoidea
- Informal: Apiformes
- Family: Colletidae
- Subfamily: Hylaeinae
- Genus: Meroglossa
- Species: M rubricata
- Binomial name: Meroglossa rubricata
Footnote & References
- Photographs and content contributor © Gary Taylor
Meroglossa rubricataBubbling Meroglossa rubricata Colour Variation Communication Female and Male Flower Selection Nesting Threats
MeroglossaMeroglossa impressifrons Meroglossa rubricata
BeesBees Anatomy Bee Behaviour Blogging Bees… Bees – image index Amegilla Bee Apis mellifera Austroplebeia australis Austrothurgus Braunsapis sp Ceylalictus perditellus Colletidae Euryglossinae Exoneura Homalictus Hyleoides bivulnerata Lasioglossum Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) Lipotriches Megachile Meroglossa Stenotritidae Tetragonula Thyreus Xylocopa