Anthophora fulvitarsis

Description

Anthophora fulvitarsis is a bee inthe family Apidae. The bees have a body length of 16 to 18 millimeters. The females have yellow markings on their faces. They are predominantly white-grey haired, with occasional black hairs appearing on the thorax and first tergite. The tergites on the third to fifth tergites are hairy with black. The second to fourth tergites wear white hair bandages at the rear edge. The rail brush (Scopa) is reddish yellow. The cheeks are as wide as the third antennal segment is wide in the middle. The males look similar to the females. At the end of the seventh tergite they have two long, narrow small spines. the tarsithe middle legs have black fringes of hair on the heel (metatarsus) in front and on the claw on both sides, the heel also has very long hair. The species is distributed in southern Europe, occasionally also in central Europe. It flies in the Mediterranean region from May to June. The females build their nests in cliffs of loess and sandstone. Pollen is collected from different plant families. Cuckoo bee of the species is Melecta albifrons and probably also Coelioxys rufescens. The bee genus Anthophora is one of the largest in the family Apidae, with over 450 species worldwide in 14 different subgenera. They are most abundant and diverse in the Holarctic and African biogeographic regions. All species are solitary, though many nest in large aggregations. Nearly all species make nests in the soil, either in banks or in flat ground; the larvae develop in cells with waterproof linings and do not spin cocoons. Males commonly have pale white or yellow facial markings, and/or peculiarly modified leg armature and hairs. Anthophora individuals can be distinguished from the very similar genus Amegilla by the possession of an arolium between the tarsal claws.