Common Blue-banded Bee
Click to enlarge image
© Bruce Hulbert
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Genus
- Amegilla
- Species
- cingulata
- Subfamily
- Apinae
- Family
- Apidae
- Super Family
- Apoidea
- Suborder
- Apocrita
- Order
- Hymenoptera
- Class
- Insecta
- Subphylum
- Uniramia
- Phylum
- Arthopoda
- Kingdom
- Animalia
-
- Size Range
- 1.2 cm
A regular visitor to Sydney gardens is the Common Blue-banded Bee.
Identification
The Common Blue-banded Bee stands out because of the blue bands across its black abdomen and because of its darting, hovering flight pattern.
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Habitat
The Common Blue-banded Bee lives in urban areas, forests and woodlands, and heath.
Distribution
The Common Blue-banded Bee is found throughout most of Australia but is not known in Tasmania or the Northern Territory.
Other behaviours and adaptations
It was thought that these bees only visited blue and purple flowers. This is not true, but they do seem to like lavender and are attracted to blue objects, including clothing.
Life history cycle
The Common Blue-banded Bee builds a solitary nest, but often close to one another. It prefers soft sandstone to burrow in, and areas of this type of rock can become riddled with bee tunnels. It also likes mud-brick houses and often burrows into the mortar in old buildings. Cells at the end of the tunnel contain an egg with a pollen/nectar mixture for the emerging larva.
