Leioproctus (Leioproctus) clarki
Murrumbateman, NSW
Identify this sighting
| Leioproctus (Leioproctus) clarki | michael.batley | 1 Jan 2023 | |
| Leioproctus (Leioproctus) clarki | SimoneC | 31 Dec 2022 |
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User's notes
About 12 mm, greeny bronze abdomen, pollen collected on hind legs. Very hairy thorax and head
4 comments
1 Jan 2023
It is with considerable reluctance that I have confirmed this identity. Leioproctus amabilis is much more common and comes in a wide range of colours including greeny bronze. Females of L. amabilis, L. clarki and L. cupreus are separated by features that can't be seen in photos. On balance, I would think that this is a little more likely to be clarki than amabilis, with the proviso that the colour of the abdomen is not definitive.
1 Jan 2023
Thanks Michael, I thought it looked more like existing images of L. clarki, but I’m aware these online IDs can be self referencing and end up reinforcing errors. That said an expert can sometimes also just “see” a difference that can’t be (or hasn’t been ) used in key - a bit like sexing chickens or a sophisticated AI algorithm - nobody knows how it works. I did see one reference to L. clarki having orange leg hair, which my specimen doesn’t but I wasn’t sure if that was definative
1 Jan 2023
Glynn Maynard's key uses the colour of the leg hair to separate L. clarki ("whitish") from L. carinatus ("black"), but only after eliminating everything else using the shape of the pygidial plate. Male terminalia may be the only unambiguous way to separate some of these species.
1 Jan 2023
Thanks Michael, whatever the taxonomy it’s good to finally see a range of native bees in the garden this season
Location information
- Coordinates 149.051167-34.977833
- Altitude 620.0m
- Places Murrumbateman, NSW
Sighting information
- 4 - 15 Abundance
- 31 Dec 2022 03:51 PM Recorded on
- SimoneC Recorded by
- Eucalyptus Associated plant
- 5mm to 12mm Animal size
- Collecting pollen Insect behaviour on flower
- Yes Insect on a flower
Collections
- SimoneC Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Leioproctus (Leioproctus) clarki Bees (Hymenoptera, Apiformes) Insects
Species information
- Leioproctus (Leioproctus) clarki Scientific name
- Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1272.35m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
6 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species