Trichocolletes sp. (genus)

Spring Bee at Black Mountain, ACT

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Identification history

Trichocolletes sp. (genus)	26 Aug 2024	MichaelMulvaney
Apis mellifera	3 Aug 2023	CarbonAI
Trichocolletes sp. (genus)	3 Aug 2023	HaukeKoch

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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

HaukeKoch wrote:

3 Aug 2023

I don't know why the AI added A. mellifera automatically, it's clearly not a honey bee.

RogerF wrote:

3 Aug 2023

Still learning

RogerF wrote:

3 Aug 2023

Numerous Trichocolletes around a clump of Hardenbergia at Mt Jerrabomberra on August 1. temp 14C.

michael.batley wrote:

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.

HaukeKoch wrote:

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?

HaukeKoch wrote:

4 Aug 2023

Is there a way to revoke or opt out of automated AI IDs by the way?

PeterA wrote:

4 Aug 2023

Good work, Hauke
I'm just amazed there are bees around in Canberra on 1 August!

MichaelBedingfield wrote:

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 )

HaukeKoch wrote:

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.

HaukeKoch wrote:

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.

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