Osmia bicornis

Red mason bee
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Megachilidae
Genus: Osmia
Species:
O. bicornis
Binomial name
Osmia bicornis
Synonyms
  • Osmia rufa (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Apis bicornis Linnaeus, 1758
  • Apis rufa Linnaeus, 1758
  • Apis agino Harris, 1776
  • Apis cornigera Rossi, 1790
  • Apis fronticornis Panzer, 1799
  • Osmia hedera Smith, 1844
  • Osmia fracticornis Pérez, 1895
  • Osmia rufa var. borealis Ducke, 1899

Osmia bicornis (synonym Osmia rufa) is a species of mason bee, and is known as the red mason bee due to its covering of dense gingery hair.[2][3][4][5] It is a solitary bee that nests in holes or stems and is polylectic, meaning it forages pollen from various different flowering plants.[6] These bees can be seen aggregating together[3] and nests in preexisting hollows, choosing not to excavate their own. These bees are not aggressive; they will only sting if handled very roughly and are safe to be closely observed by children.[3][5] Females only mate once, usually with closely related males. Further, females can determine the sex ratio of their offspring based on their body size, where larger females will invest more in diploid females eggs than small bees. These bees also have trichromatic colour vision[7] and are important pollinators in agriculture.[3]

  1. ^ Lhomme, P. (2014). "Osmia bicornis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T19198431A21154926. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. ^ Wild Life Trusts
  3. ^ a b c d Natural History Museum - Swarm-like behaviour of red mason solitary bees - retrieved 2013-08-14
  4. ^ INSECTS - Collins gem guide ISBN 0-00-458818-5
  5. ^ a b Buckingham Nurseries
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ref8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).