Ceratina cyanea

Ceratina cyanea, common name blue carpenter bee, is a species of bee belonging to the family Apidae, subfamily Xylocopinae.

Ceratina cyanea
Female of Ceratina cyanea close to the nest
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hymenoptera
Family:
Apidae
Subfamily:
Xylocopinae
Genus:
Ceratina
Subgenus:
Euceratina
Species:
C. cyanea
Binomial name
Ceratina cyanea
(Kirby, 1802) [1]
Synonyms
  • Apis cyanea Kirby, 1802 [2]

Distribution

This species is present in most of Western Europe, in North West Africa and in the East Palaearctic ecozone (excluding China). [2][1][3][4]

Habitat

This undemanding species colonize both dry habitats and wetlands. It inhabits forest edges, thickets and gardens.[5][6]

Description
Digging the nest

Ceratina cyanea can reach a length of 5–9 millimetres (0.20–0.35 in) (females) and 5–7 millimetres (0.20–0.28 in) (males).[5] Head, chest and abdomen show a metallic blue colour.[5][7] These bees have three submarginal cells in forewings,[8] club-shaped antennae[5] and a long thin tongue.[5] The scutellum is densely punctured. The seventh tergite has a deep saddle and ends in two points.[3][9]

Biology

The blue carpenter bees fly from mid-March to mid-October,[5] collecting pollen at various families of plants, especially knapweed (Centaurea), yellow composites (Asteraceae) and Lotus (Fabaceae).[6]

Females dig the nest extracting the soft tissue that fills the cavities of the vertical or slanted dry plant stems and small branches,[7][6] such as thistles, blackberries (Rubus species),[7] elderberries (Sambucus species) and roses.[5][7] Then they provide the cells with a mixture of regurgitated nectar and pollen to feed the larvae.[5] Adult males and females overwinter inside their cells into the stems. Often several insects spend the winter together.[5]

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References
  1. Biolib
  2. Fauna europaea
  3. Révision des Xylocopinae (Hymenoptera : Apidae) de France et de Belgique
  4. Global species
  5. Naturspaziergang (in German)
  6. Essex Field Club
  7. British Journal of Entomology and Natural History - Volume 8 - 1995
  8. John L. Capinera - Encyclopedia of Entomology
  9. Felix Amiet, M. Herrmann, A. Müller, R. Neumeyer: Fauna Helvetica 20: Apidae 5. Centre Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune, 2007
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