Panurgus

Male hairy bee ( Panurgus? Calcaratus )

• Flavipanurgus
• Panurgus s.str.
• Simpanurgus

The shaggy bees ( Panurgus ) are a genus of bees from the family of Andrenidae. Worldwide there are about 35 species in Central Europe, the genus is represented by three species.

Dissemination

The shaggy bees are entirely restricted to the Palaearctic, the range extends from the Canary Islands to China and Japan. Particularly rich in species is the genus in the western Mediterranean, so Spain and North Africa represent.

Features

With 5 to 14 mm shaggy bees are small to medium in size. Most species ( subgenus Panurgus s.str. ) Are almost completely black, some species are wearing yellow drawings on the head and legs, sometimes yellow abdomen napkins. The forewings have two, roughly equal Cubitalzellen and truncate at the end of radial cell. The coat is relatively sparse, but the male has a thick, long, black facial hair. The body surface largely bare and very shiny. The abdomen has a typical, slightly diamond-shaped outline. Shaggy bees are leg collector, a special feature of Panurgus s.str. is the structure of the collective hair on the hind legs of the females, these are fine zigzag wavy or spiral rotated, thereby forming a long, shaggy -looking collection brush ( hence the name).

Way of life

Shaggy bees form one generation per year; adult animals are found mainly in midsummer. They are dependent on Composites as pollen source, most frequently they are found in yellow blooming flower heads, about of hawkweed or bitter herb. The nests are laid in sandy soil or loess, often in larger groupings, typically on slopes, uneven ground, in sand and clay pits or on forest edges. The most common native species Panurgus calcaratus, one of the local species, that is, several females inhabit communal nest, but each serving only their own larvae. Often the same nests are used over several generations. Shaggy bees overwinter in their nests as a resting larvae. As cuckoo bees only Wasps Bees are known.

Central European species

In Central Europe, three species are known:

• Panurgus calcaratus is the most common native species, particularly widespread in the lowlands.
• Panurgus dentipes is in contrast to P. calcaratus dependent on warmer areas and confined largely in Germany on the Rhine Graben.
• Panurgus banksianus is larger than the other two species and found mainly in higher upland areas.

System

The closest relatives of hairy bees are the apparent rag bees ( Panurginus ), maybe they are paraphyletic with the glow rag bees as outgroup. Another closely related species in Central Europe are the stained bees ( Camptopoeum ). Most important distinguishing features of the species are in the construction of the last abdominal sternites of the males.

From the Nominat sub- genus, the two subgenera Flavipanurgus and Simpanurgus be distinguished, which are limited to a few species to the Iberian Peninsula by yellow and drawings on head and abdomen of the species of the subgenus Panurgus s.str. differ.