''Melecta luctuosa'', also known as square-spotted mourning bee, is a species of bee within the family Apidae.

Description

''Melecta luctuosa'' measure 12–14 mm. The males and females have black hair with white patches of hair. The mesonotum and sides of the thorax are hairy gray.

Range

''Melecta luctuosa'' occurs in North Africa from the Canaries to Egypt. In Eurasia from Portugal across Europe, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Central Asia and Siberia to the Amur; north to southern England and southern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

(lost in both countries), the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

States and Moscow; south to Sicily, Crete, Cyprus and Northern Iran. It reached the oriental fauna region in Pakistan. The species is currently reported in central Europe from almost all regions, only from Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt,

Canton Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

and Basel only historically; absent in large parts of the eastern central plateau, along the main Alpine ridge and in the Engadine; a report for the federal state of Salzburg needs to be checked.

Habitat

Forest fringes, hedges, steep walls, edges, dry stone walls, sand, gravel and clay pits. From the lowlands to the montane elevation.

Ecology

This species is univoltin. It is on the wing from late April to late June and is wintering as an imago. Various plant species serve as (exchangeable) nectar sources, e.g. ''

Ajuga reptans ''Ajuga reptans'' is commonly known as bugle, blue bugle, bugleherb, bugleweed, carpetweed, carpet bugleweed, and common bugle, and traditionally but less commonly as St. Lawrence plant. It is an herbaceous flowering plant in the mint family Lamia ...

'', '' Glechoma hederacea,

Salvia pratensis ''Salvia pratensis'', the meadow clary or meadow sage, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. The Latin specific epithet ''pratensis'' means "of meadows", referring to its ...

Salvia verticillata ''Salvia verticillata'', the lilac sage or whorled clary, is a herbaceous perennial native to a wide area ranging from central Europe to western Asia, and naturalized in northern Europe and North America. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus ...

, Nepeta, Echium vulgare,

Anchusa officinalis ''Anchusa officinalis'', commonly known as the common bugloss or alkanet, is a plant species in the genus ''Anchusa''. The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 10 for most nectar production (nectar per u ...

''. ''Melecta luctuosa'' is a

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

species. The main host is '' Anthophora aestivalis'', other known hosts are '' Anthophora crinipes,

Anthophora plagiata ''Anthophora plagiata'' is a species of insect belonging to the family Apidae Apidae is the largest family within the superfamily Apoidea, containing at least 5700 species of bees. The family includes some of the most commonly seen bees, inc ...

'' and ''

Anthophora retusa ''Anthophora retusa'', the potter flower bee, is a species of solitary digger bee. Distribution ''A. retusa'' is generally found in Western Europe and southern Sweden. In the United Kingdom, ''A. retusa'' is thought to be limited to five sites, ...

'', possibly also '' Anthophora fulvitarsis''.

Etymology

From Latin, ''luctuosa'' = "sad".

Taxonomy

It belongs to the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

''Melecta'' Latreille, 1802.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q252852 Apinae Hymenoptera of Africa Hymenoptera of Asia Hymenoptera of Europe Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli Insects described in 1770