Species Hylaeus (Macrohylaeus) alcyoneus (Erichson, 1842)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Prosopis alcyonea Erichson, W.F. 1842. Beitrag zur Insecten-fauna von Vandiemensland, mit besonderer Berucksichtigung der geographischen Verbreitung der Insecten. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 8(1): 83-287, pls 4, 5 [267].

  Type data:

   Holotype whereabouts unknown ♀, TAS (as Van Diemens Land).
• Prosopis vidua Smith, F. 1853. Catalogue of Hymenopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. Part I. Andrenidae and Apidae. London : British Museum 197 pp. [Date published 31/12/1853] [29].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH Hym.17.a.64 ♂, Australia (as New Holland).
• Hylaeus alcyoneus robustus Cockerell, T.D.A. 1926. Descriptions and records of bees. CXI. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 9 17: 657-665 [Date published 31/12/1926] [663].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH ♂, [Royal] National Park, Australia).

  Type locality references:

  Houston, T.F. 1981. A revision of the Australian hylaeine bees (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). II. Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 80: 1-128 [Date published 31/12/1981] [92].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Houston, T.F. 1981. A revision of the Australian hylaeine bees (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). II. Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 80: 1-128 [Date published 31/12/1981] [92]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gawler (GAW), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), King (KIN), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Adult: mellivore, solitary, volant.

Larva: sedentary.

Extra Ecological Information

Nest in cavities in wood, including twig of dead Acacia Miller [Mimoidaceae], flower visiting record: primarily Banksia L.f. [Proteaceae], but in Eastern Australia also recorded from Angophora Cavanilles [Myrtaceae], Callistemon R.Br. [Myrtaceae], Lambertia Sm. [Proteaceae], Leptospermum Forster & G.Forster [Myrtaceae].

General References

Alcock, J. 1995. Body size and its effect on male-male competition in Hylaeus alcyoneus (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). Journal of Insect Behaviour 8(2): 149-159 [149] (biology)

Alcock, J. & Houston, T.F. 1987. Resource defense and alternative mating tactics in the banksia bee, Hylaeus alcyoneus (Erichson). Ethology 76: 177-188 (biology)

Dollin, A., Batley, M., Robinson, M. & Faulkner, B. 2000. Native Bees of the Sydney Region. A Field Guide. North Richmond, NSW : Australian Native Bee Research Centre 70 pp. [35] (biology)

Hingston, A.B. 1998. Temporal and spatial variation in abundances of native bee species on an altitudinal gradient in southern Tasmania. Australian Journal of Zoology 46: 497-507 [506]

Hingston, A.B. 1999. Affinities between southern Tasmanian plants in native bee visitor profiles. Australian Journal of Zoology 47: 361-384 [382]

Houston, T.F. 1981. A revision of the Australian hylaeine bees (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). II. Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 80: 1-128 [Date published 31/12/1981] (redescription)

McGinley, R.J. 1981. Systematics of the Colletidae based on mature larvae with phenetic analysis of apoid larvae (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology 91: 1-309 [Date published 31/12/1981] (larva)

Meade-Waldo, G. 1923. Hymenoptera. Fam. Apidae. Subfam. Prosopidinae. Genera Insectorum 181: 1-45 [Date published 31/12/1923] (as Hylaeus (Koptogaster) alcyoneus (Erichson, 1842))

Michener, C.D. 1992. Sexual dimorphism in the glossa of Colletidae (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 65: 1-9 [Date published 31/12/1992] (glossa)

Rayment, T. 1935. A Cluster of Bees. Sixty essays on the life-histories of Australian bees, with specific descriptions of over 100 new species, and an introduction by Professor E.F. Phillips, D.Ph., Cornell University, U.S.A. Sydney : Endeavour Press. 752 pp. (illustration, as Hylaeus alcyoneus robustus Cockerell, 1926)

Rayment, T. 1954. Incidence of acarid mites on the biology of bees. The Australian Zoologist 12: 26-38 (as host, nest and flower records, as Palaeorhiza alcyonea (Erichson, 1842)

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