Trichocolletes sp. (genus)
Spring Bee at Black Mountain, ACT
Identify this sighting
| Trichocolletes sp. (genus) | MichaelMulvaney | 26 Aug 2024 | |
| Apis mellifera | CarbonAI | 3 Aug 2023 | |
| Trichocolletes sp. (genus) | HaukeKoch | 3 Aug 2023 |
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User's notes
Tentatively this may be Trichocolletes tenuiculus following the key in Batley & Houston 2012. @michael.batley do the photos show enough detail? There were several females and males on Hardenbergia.
10 comments
3 Aug 2023
I don't know why the AI added A. mellifera automatically, it's clearly not a honey bee.
3 Aug 2023
Numerous Trichocolletes around a clump of Hardenbergia at Mt Jerrabomberra on August 1. temp 14C.
4 Aug 2023
She does look like like T. tenuiculus rather than T. orientalis, though that pair of species are so similar that if identification were important I would usually like to see more than one individual. The really interesting question is whether species other than T. orientalis become adults before winter (Houston, T.F., 2020. On the remarkable nesting biology of an Australian bee in the genus Trichocolletes Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). Austral Entomology 59: 593-601.) I have been noting that, in Sydney, T. orientalis males appear on or near 1 July.
4 Aug 2023
Thanks Michael and Roger! I saw the first ones at Black Mountain on the 1st of August as well, both females foraging for nectar and males chasing the females. There seem to be good numbers at the site, but I haven't found a nest site. Would the males be better to distinguish T. tenuiculus from T. orientalis?
4 Aug 2023
It is not possible to opt out of automated ID's tho it may be an option we could consider in the future ( CC @AaronClausen )
4 Aug 2023
Thanks for the info, personally I think that would be a good option, at least in taxa where the AI is probably not that great anyway at the moment, like bees.
5 Aug 2023
Thanks Peter as well, I was surprised to see them and really only had a closer look because of the call by Roger to look out for winter pollinators on the front page.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.113546-35.274754
- Places Black Mountain, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 3 Aug 2023 08:16 AM Recorded on
- HaukeKoch Recorded by
- Hardenbergia violacea Associated plant
- 12mm to 25mm Animal size
- Female Gender
- Alive / healthy Animal health
- Feeding on nectar or pollen Insect behaviour on flower
- Yes Insect on a flower
Collections
- HaukeKoch Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Trichocolletes sp. (genus) Bees (Hymenoptera, Apiformes) Insects
Species information
- Trichocolletes sp. (genus) Scientific name
- Spring Bee Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1315.39m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
5 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Description
- Additional attributes
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location