''Leioproctus huakiwi'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of bee in the family Colletidae family. This species was first described in 2007 and 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 ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. ''L. huakiwi'' is a solitary bee, small and mainly black in appearance. It nests in the ground in bare, dry and fine soil. This species has been the subject of a successful

translocation Translocation may refer to: * Chromosomal translocation, a chromosome abnormality caused by rearrangement of parts ** Robertsonian translocation, a chromosomal rearrangement in pairs 13, 14, 15, 21, and 22 ** Nonreciprocal translocation, transfer ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in 2005.

Taxonomy

This species was first described in 2007 by Barry James Donovan and named ''Leiproctus huakiwi''. The holotype specimen was collected by Donovan and held in the New Zealand Arthropod Collection.

Description

This species is small, varying between 7.7 to 11.8 millimetres in length, with the female being larger than the male. Both the male and female of this species are mostly black in appearance with their antennae being mostly brown and their

metasoma The metasoma is the posterior part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the mesosoma. In insects, it contains most of the digestive tract, respiratory system, and circula ...

terminal segment being brown to black with the apex portion being red. The female of the species can be distinguished from similar looking species as it has a raised vertical ridge on its face.

Distribution

This species can be found in the North, South and Steward islands of New Zealand. However, the increase in intensity of agricultural use of land over the last 200 years has eliminated this bee species from some areas of its historic range.

Habitat and hosts

This species occurs all over New Zealand in areas of vegetation and have been found at altitudes ranging from sea level up to 1050 metres. Their nesting sites can be found in a wide variety of sites made up of bare, dry and fine soils including on sandy beaches, silty riverbanks, domestic gardens and on golf courses. Their nests may be made in the presence of nests of other New Zealand endemic bees and cannot be distinguished by the eye from the nests of ''L. pango''. ''L. huakiwi'' appears not to be selective in its plant hosts and has been seen feeding and collecting pollen from a variety of species, native and introduced. Adult bees have been observed on the flowers of native species such as ''

Carmichaelia stevensonii ''Carmichaelia stevensonii'', the cord broom or weeping broom, is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand. It is threatened by habitat loss. Taxonomy It was first describe ...

'', ''

Cordyline australis ''Cordyline australis'', commonly known as the cabbage tree, tī kōuka or cabbage-palm, is a widely branched monocot tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to tall with a stout trunk and sword-like leaves, which are clustered at the tips of ...

'', ''

Hoheria angustifolia ''Hoheria angustifolia'', the narrow-leaved lacebark or narrow-leaved houhere, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae, endemic to New Zealand. It is an evergreen tree or shrub with a weeping habit and grows to tall. Known as Hou ...

'', '' Kunzea ericoides'', Leptospermum scoparium, and ''

Veronica stricta ''Veronica stricta'', synonym ''Hebe stricta'', commonly called koromiko, is a flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae, which is endemic to New Zealand. Koromiko is a hebe found throughout the Mainland New Zealand, with long pale green le ...

''. They have also been found on the flowers of introduced species such as ''

Actinidia deliciosa ''Actinidia deliciosa'', the fuzzy kiwifruit, is a fruiting vine native to Southern China. Other species of '' Actinidia'' are also found in China and range east to Japan and north into southern areas of Russian Far East. This species grows nat ...

'', ''

Daucus carota ''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old Wor ...

'', and '' Persea americana.''

Behaviour

Adults of this species are on the wing from October until April.

Conservation status and translocations

Although ''L. huakiwi'' is not listed in the Department of Conservation threat classification report published in 2017, this species is known to be rare in Canterbury. Prior to 2005 only a few scattered nests were known to local entomologists throughout that region. The discovery of several hundred nests in a residential vegetable garden prompted an attempt at translocating several of those nests to

Plant and Food Research Plant & Food Research (Māori: Rangahau Ahumāra Kai) is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute (CRI). Its purpose is to enhance the value and productivity of New Zealand's horticultural, arable, seafood and food & beverage industries. The inte ...

at the Canterbury Agriculture and Science Centre. This was to enable the study of whether reintroductions of this species might be successful. After three years of study it was found that the number of bees at the site had increased by between 8 and 25 times, indicating relocation of this species could be successfully undertaken.

Etymology

This species is named for the Māori name for

kiwifruit Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi in North American, British and continental European English) or Chinese gooseberry is the edible berry of several species of woody vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' ...

, huakiwi, as this species is frequently attracted to kiwifruit blossoms.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2466789 Colletidae Hymenoptera of New Zealand