Abstract
We provide information on the nesting behavior, seasonality and nest soli type characteristics of Eucera nigrilabris Lepeletier, 1841 in Egypt. A nest was discovered in a canal bank in Abbis Village, Alexandria, Western Egypt. The species is protandrous, univoltine, ground nesting species. The bees built deep nests about 85cm under the ground and consisted of lined, branched tunnel with many cell. The bees start fly by end of January until end of March and active in winter seasons. The soil of the nest has yellow color, sandy loam texture, low salinty and sodicity, and low calcium carbonate content. The bee distrbiution was influnced by the soil with high content of sodium carbonate. The bees forage on the wild flora of the family Asteraceae carriyng a yellow pollen load. There is no any record of a cleptoparasitism around the nesting area.
Highlights
The main objective of the current contribution is documenting some biological and ecological aspects of the nesting of the genus Eucera Scopoli in the Mediterranean region
There are some few publications of Eucera and Tetralonia nesting biology in the world (Malyshev, 1924; 1929; Linsley et al, 1952; Michener & Lange 1958; Rozen, 1969; 1974), (Wafa & Mohamed 1970; Miliczky, 1985; Popova, 1990)
The species is well abundant in Egypt distributed in Fayiuom, Cairo and north coast, the flight activity started from January to March and the nesting biology and behavior is unknown
Summary
The main objective of the current contribution is documenting some biological and ecological aspects of the nesting of the genus Eucera Scopoli in the Mediterranean region. In particular soil properties can play an important role in the distribution and diversity of ground nesting bees (Grundel et al, 2010). The species is well abundant in Egypt distributed in Fayiuom, Cairo and north coast, the flight activity started from January to March and the nesting biology and behavior is unknown.
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