Osmia rufa

Red mason bees ( Osmia bicornis)

The Red Mason Bee ( Osmia bicornis) is the most common native species of the genus mason bees. The German name is derived from the previously used name Osmia rufa (Linnaeus 1758).

Features

The Red Mason Bee has a body length of 10 mm or slightly above and the typical mason bees - wide stocky body shape with wide abgestutztem abdomen end so that it is sometimes held by lay people for a little bumblebee. The dense, long hair is reddish - brown, but not as vividly colored as in the closely related horned mason bees and in older specimens usually faded. Also, the chest is in contrast to the horned mason bee, bright hair. Together with the Horned mason bee, the female has two forward facing horns on the head shield, a black facial hair and a yellow belly brush, while the males of both species are characterized by remarkably long antennae and a white facial hair.

Dissemination

The species colonized large parts of Europe and North Africa, in the north reaches their range to southern Sweden and England. In Germany it has no distribution limit and is largely spread everywhere, even in higher altitudes of the mountains.

Way of life

Typical habitats are structurally diverse habitats such as forest edges and clearings, regularly the Red Mason Bee but is also encountered in the settlement area. The adults overwinter in the cocoon and fly from April to June. Nesting sites are cavities of any kind, such as Bohrgänge in wood, hollow stems, cracks and holes in mud walls and masonry. No other species of bee is as flexible as the Red Mason Bee in the adoption of nesting on buildings, which offer a wide range of nesting sites (eg thatched roofs ), there can be real mass occurrence over the years. It is among the first and most frequent colonizers of artificial nests. In tubular cavities line construction with up to 20 brood cells are created, irregular buildings in larger cavities can have up to 30 cells. The partitions are of moist earth or clay, mixed with saliva, built. As larvae food is pollen, which can come from many different plant species ( eg oak, maple, fruit trees, roses, sweet peas, poppy, etc. ), are often the most productive pollinator of your environment preferred.

Taxonomy

Linnaeus described in 1758 the males of this species under the name of Apis rufa and the female as Apis bicornis. Kirby recognized in 1802 as the first, that it was one and the same species, for which he used the name Apis bicornis. Later, it was argued, rufa would be the correct name, as in Linnaeus' Systema naturae this appears directly before bicornis. In the nomenclature rules of the ICZN is emphasized, however, that this form of " priority line " does not apply, it must be the decision of the first author under revision, to be followed in this case Kirbys. This Osmia bicornis is the correct name for the species, but the. In very many of whom still current writings is run as Osmia rufa