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The nesting biology of the bee, Osmia dimidiata Morawitz, 1870 (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) in the Crimea

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Abstract

The structure and composition of Osmia dimidiata nests were studied based on the material of 133 nests obtained from trap-nests in five localities of the Crimea. The nests contained from 1 to 9 cells (on average, 2.2), separated with partitions made of masticated leaves. Most of the cells had a massive hemispherical bottom and a thin flat cover. The final plug had a structure similar to the cell bottom. The cells occurred singly in the nest cavity or were arranged in rows of 2 or 3 cells separated by galleries. The diameter of the occupied cavities was positively correlated with the fraction of the females in the progeny and with the mass of the cocoons, but negatively correlated with the cell length. The cells with females were 1.5 times as long as those with males. The cocoons with females were twice as heavy as those with males. The peculiar characters of the nest structure of O. dimidiata may mean that the typical nesting substrates of this species are abandoned cells of other bee and wasp species. The characteristic mechanism of estimating the mass of the pollen loaf stored in the cells and determining the brood sex ratio has evolved in the O. dimidiata due to its tenantry. This mechanism is based on two constants: the sex-linked cell length and the fixed distance between the pollen loaf and the cell cover. When choosing the nesting cavities, the female prefers broader and longer tubes for cells with females and narrower and shorter ones for cells with males. The overall sex ratio of the progeny was male-biased (1 ♀: 2.5 ♂) and depended on the food supply abundance. The adults of O. dimidiata fly in the Crimea from the last decade of May until the end of July. Hibernation occurs at the adult stage in the cocoons. Females collect pollen from flowers of Asteraceae or, rarely, Fabaceae. The nests may be destroyed by Melittobia acasta, Monodontomerus aereus, M. obscurus, Sapyga quinquepunctata, Stelis phaeoptera, and Trichodes apiarius; 21% of the progeny died from these enemies, and 22%, due to other factors. The previously proposed synonymy of Pseudosmia taurica Radoszkowski, 1874 (nec Osmia taurica Radoszkowski, 1887) and O. dimidiata is rejected.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Taurida National V.I. Vernadsky University, Simferopol, Ukraine

    S. P. Ivanov, A. V. Fateryga & M. A. Kobetskaya

  2. Nikitsky Botanical Garden, the National Scientific Center, Yalta, Ukraine

    S. P. Ivanov, A. V. Fateryga & M. A. Kobetskaya

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  1. S. P. Ivanov
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  2. A. V. Fateryga
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  3. M. A. Kobetskaya
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Correspondence to A. V. Fateryga.

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Original Russian Text © S.P. Ivanov, A.V. Fateryga, M.A. Kobetskaya, 2013, published in Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie, 2013, Vol. 92, No. 1, pp. 35–61.

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Ivanov, S.P., Fateryga, A.V. & Kobetskaya, M.A. The nesting biology of the bee, Osmia dimidiata Morawitz, 1870 (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) in the Crimea. Entmol. Rev. 93, 675–694 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S001387381306002X

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