''Hesperocolletes douglasi'', the Rottnest bee or Douglas's broad-headed bee, is a rediscovered species of
plasterer bee
A plasterer is a tradesman or tradesperson who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been ...
that is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and the sole known member of the genus ''Hesperocolletes''.
It was described from a single specimen collected in 1938 on
Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island ( nys, Wadjemup), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class ...
, located off the coast of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. A second specimen was found in 2015, in ''
Banksia
''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range i ...
'' woodland at
Pinjar, Western Australia
Pinjar is a rural locality in Perth, Western Australia. Its local government area is the City of Wanneroo.
History
The suburb of Pinjar is named after the large swampy lake of this name located north east of Wanneroo. The lake name is shown on ...
.
Description
The bee's body is black, shiny and 12 mm long and wings were brown and up to 8 mm long.
It is about the same size as a honeybee. It is generally black and brown and moderately hairy.
''Hesperocolletes douglasi'' is superficially like a number of other native bees and careful examination under a microscope would be required to distinguish a specimen.
Taxonomy
Bee expert Charles Michener described and named the species in 1965 on the basis of the 1938 specimen, designating it as the
holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
, and created the monotypic genus ''Hesperocolletes'' for ''Hesperocolletes douglasi'' alone.
No record of the circumstances of capture (e.g. flowers visited) is available.
The species, which is named for its collector, A.M. Douglas,
belongs to the subfamily
Paracolletinae, part of the large family
Colletidae
The Colletidae are a family of bees, and are often referred to collectively as plasterer bees or polyester bees, due to the method of smoothing the walls of their nest cells with secretions applied with their mouthparts; these secretions dry int ...
. Colletids are characterized by having a short, broad, blunt tongue ("
glossa") (a flexible, hairy appendage at the end of the
proboscis
A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...
, not always visible as it can be retracted).
Paracolletines (at least in most species, including ''Hesperocolletes douglasi'') have three submarginal cells in the fore wing and females usually have densely hairy hind legs (for carrying pollen).
The diagnostic characters of ''H. douglasi'' can occur individually in various paracolletine bees, and it is the combination of those features that one must look for:
*lower part of face yellow-brown.
*
labrum (a hinged flap attached to the lower margin of the face) more than twice as wide as long and not strongly convex.
*a distinct
carina
Carina may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Carina, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane
* Carina Heights, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane
* Carina, Victoria, a locality in Mildura
Serbia
* Carina, Osečina, a village in the Kolubara District
...
(sharp edge) around and especially behind each compound eye.
*
tarsal claw
This glossary describes the terms used in formal descriptions of spiders; where applicable these terms are used in describing other arachnids.
Links within the glossary are shown .
Terms A
Abdomen or opisthosoma: One of the two main body parts ...
s with inner prongs expanded and flattened.
Habitat and range
A further, female, specimen was found in 2015, in "an isolated banksia woodland remnant in the Southwest Floristic Region of Western Australia (...) in the Gnangara-Moore River State Forest, north of Perth".
After its rediscovery in 2015,
''Hesperocolletes douglasis conservation status has been changed from "presumed extinct" to "critically endangered"
under the
Western Australian Wildlife Conservation Act.
Little is known about the biology, ecology and geographic range of this rare and enigmatic native bee species, and its rediscovery highlights the importance of preservation, restoration and proper management of remnant vegetation in face of
anthropogenic threats to safeguard habitat for biodiversity.
See also
*
Australian native bees
Australia has over 1,700 species of native bee. Bees collect pollen from flowers to feed their young. Flies do not do this, although they may be seen ''eating'' pollen, so identification is not always easy.
Sting or no sting, solitary vs ...
*
References
External links
*Report of the rediscovery of the species: https://www.communitynews.com.au/wanneroo-times/news/native-bee-thought-extinct-found-in-pinjar-banksia-woodland/
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2206767
Colletidae
Hymenoptera of Australia
Fauna of Western Australia
Endemic fauna of Australia
Rottnest Island
Monotypic bee genera