Bees of Australia: A Photographic Exploration

By James Dorey

Bees are the darlings of the insect world. It is a joy to see these insects hard at work, peacefully buzzing from flower to flower. Many people recognise the worth of bees, as well as that they face multiple threats. But very few know about the diversity and importance of our native bee species. There are an estimated 2000 to 3000 bee species in Australia, yet we know very little about the vast majority of these and there are many that are yet to be described.

Bees of Australia introduces some of our incredible native bees, many of which, if you look closely, can be found in your own garden. Open this book wherever you like or read it from cover to cover. The combination of photography and contributions from some of Australia’s leading bee researchers allows anyone to become enthralled by our native bees. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself looking closer at every flower that you pass in search of our wonderful native bees.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
• Release date: Oct 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781486308514

Book preview

BEES of AUSTRALIA

© James Dorey 2018

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Front cover: The face of a male Megachile apicata from Queensland. Collected by Olivia K. Davies.

Title page: A female Lasioglossum sp. feeding from flowers in Victoria.

Back cover: (left to right) side view of a female Leioproctus amabilis; dorsal view of a male Leioproctus amabilis; male Homolytictus dampieri.

Photographs are by the author

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BEES of AUSTRALIA

A PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION

JAMES DOREY

Foreword

Bees are viewed widely as beneficial. Humanity has long benefited from the domestication of a few species, most notably the European honeybee, Apis mellifera. These benefits include the production of honey and wax, as well as the pollination of crops and other plants. Their intricate behaviours, especially those associated with social existence, have presented stimulating models for evolutionary analysis, as well as impressive – often fanciful – templates for the imaginations of science fiction writers. Yet, few people appreciate the true variety and biological diversity of bees demonstrated so vividly in this book.

Australia harbours numerous species of native bees, many of them inconspicuous to the casual observer, and most of them found nowhere else in the world. As with other groups of insects in Australia, early taxonomists allocated many newly discovered species to Northern Hemisphere genera with which they were familiar, and the high levels of endemism and independent evolution have only become recognised as our fauna is explored in more detail. The uniqueness of our bee fauna is itself a powerful motive for conservation, but the wellbeing of bees as predominant pollinators is also integral to the conservation of much of Australia’s flora. Bees can be affected by the loss of native flora and habitats and by the introduction of alien species, pesticides and other influences. Global declines of pollinators are a major concern and their wide ramifications are difficult to exaggerate.

Tarlten Rayment commented in his A Cluster of Bees (1935, Endeavour Press, Sydney) – an enduring classic of Australia’s natural history literature – that bees are perhaps the most useful of all insect groups to humanity. Their wellbeing can be assured only through informed awareness, and any means that can increase this recognition is extremely welcome. Ways of attracting young people to wider interests in natural history (and redressing what is sometimes referred to as ‘the extinction of experience’) are extremely welcome. This book is a valuable contribution to that effort. James Dorey writes with knowledge and an infectious passion, and the wealth of information encompassed in his notes on each of the selection of bee species treated here will surely help to stimulate wider and enduring interest. The book is also a vehicle for displaying the author’s remarkable photographs: examples that demonstrate so impressively the beauty, wonder and structural variety of Australia’s bees. It also provides a useful ‘foothold’ for readers to start observing, collecting (with due regard to any permits needed), photographing and recording their findings on behaviour, abundance, which flowers are visited or ignored, and so on. It is easy to obtain original information – indeed, it is often difficult to find anything that has been recorded previously for many of our insect species! Novelties may include finding unusual species in a home garden, where bees can be encouraged by supplying suitable nectar sources and nest sites. The general essays in this book focus on many topics related to this and are an important part of this volume. Some provide very practical advice on studying bees.

One important lesson, perhaps a caution, is that, although the fine illustrations cover a representative selection of bees that may be encountered, a far larger number are not included. It is sure that any persistent observer will find additional species, some closely resembling those illustrated, but others clearly different. Some may never have been seen before, especially those from the more remote parts of Australia. Our ability to interpret bee diversity and patterns of species distribution and abundance depend on continuing documentation, and the availability of collected specimens for critical examination by specialists. Readers of this welcome book can easily become contributors to this endeavour.

In short, bees are a significant focal group of insects. They are popular and appreciated, attractive in appearance and readily observed, as most are active by day – they are ideal for ‘citizen science’ projects or for individual interests. I hope that this book will foster these activities and lead to increased understanding of ‘how bees work’ in Australia.

T. R. New

Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution,

La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria 3086, Australia

Email: [e-mail]

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Image captions

Introduction

New South Wales

Amegilla (Asaropoda) bombiformis

Megachile ustulata

Amegilla (Zonamegilla) asserta

Undescribed Leioproctus (Exleycolletes) sp.

Lasioglossum (Parasphecodes) lithuscum

Hylaeus (Macrohylaeus) alcyoneus

Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) lanarium

Leioproctus (Exleycolletes) cristatus

Exoneura sp.

Thyreus nitidulus

Why are bees important?

James Dorey

Queensland

Austroplebeia australis

Palaeorhiza (Cnemidorhiza) disrupta

Megachile abdominale

Braunsapis sp.

Hylaeus (Euprosopoides) ruficeps

Euryglossina (Microdontura) mellea

Megachile apicata

Tetragonula carbonaria

Hylaeus (Gnathoprosopis) albonitens

Megachile aurifrons

Nomia (Hoplonomia) rubroviridis

Australian native bees as crop pollinators

Tobias J. Smith

Victoria

Homalictus punctatus

Leioproctus (Leioproctus) plumosus

Hylaeus (Gnathoprosopoides) philoleucus

Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) veronicae

Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) sp.

Amphylaeus (Amphylaeus) morosus

Pachyprosopis (Pachyprosopis) haematostoma

Nomia (Paulynomia) aurantifer

Euryglossina (Euryglossina) hypochroma

Apis mellifera

Threats to our bees

Matt Elmer

Western Australia

Amegilla (Notomegilla) chlorocyanea

Hylaeus (Euprosopis) husela

Homalictus dampieri

Xylocopa (Koptortosoma) parvula

Callohesma flavopicta

Austroplebeia essingtoni

Exoneura sp.

Hylaeus (Euprosopoides) obtusatus

Thyreus waroonensis

Social behaviour of bees

Tim Heard

South Australia

Brachyhesma houstoni

Homalictus urbanus

New Exoneura sp.

Hylaeus (Euprosopis) honestus

Lasioglossum (Callalictus) callomelittinum

Euryglossa adelaidae

Pachyprosopis (Pachyprosopula) kellyi

Brachyhesma sp.

Lipotriches (Austronomia) australica

Exoneura sp.

How to find native bees

James Dorey

Tasmania

Heterohesma clypeata

Hylaeus (Prosopisteron) perhumilis

Paracolletes (Paracolletes) crassipes

Leioproctus (Leioproctus) amabilis

Exoneura (Inquilina) sp.

Megachile (Eutricharaea) maculariformis

Hylaeus (Prosopisteron) quadratus

Bombus terrestris

How to attract native bees to your garden

Megan Halcroft

Northern Territory

Undescribed Amegilla (Asaropoda) sp.

Brachyhesma perlutea

Braunsapis sp.

Hylaeus (Rhodohylaeus) maiellus

Hylaeus (Euprosopis) elegans

Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) ochroma

Lipotriches (Austronomia) sp.

Meroglossa torrida

Xanthesma (Xanthesma) flava

Museums

Ctenocolletes smaragdinus

Megachile (Schizomegachile) monstrosa

Xylocopa (Koptortosoma) aruana

Palaeorhiza varicolor

Quasihesma gigantica

Lasioglossum (Chilalictus) hemichalceum

Amegilla (Asaropoda) dawsoni

Xylocopa (Lestis) aeratus

Hyleoides zonalis

The importance of museums

Michael Batley

Glossary

Appendix of species by family

Further reading

Index

Acknowledgements

There are many people that I must both acknowledge and thank profusely for helping me to make this book. Truly, it would never have been started, let alone finished, without the help of so many extremely generous people along the way.

The first thanks must go to my ecology friends, Gergana Daskalova, Matt Elmer, Christina Elmer and Amelia Carlson, who encouraged me past the ‘I should do that’ phase into the ‘I can do that’ phase of the project. I would additionally like to thank Jeremy Whitehead, Tas Jouir and the many other friends who kept me going through the many hours, weeks and months of photo editing that were required to produce so many images of our native bees. I also need to thank my parents, not just for instilling in me a love of nature and encouraging me in any endeavour that I chose to undertake, but also for supporting me financially while I was driving around Australia for three and a half months collecting bees. On a similar note, I would like to thank Ron Dorey, my uncle, for giving me his was-to-be paddock basher van that took me around the country and that I named ‘Ron’. I would also like to thank him for the misunderstandings that I now suffer