Hylaeus sanguinipictus
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| Hylaeus sanguinipictus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| male | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Colletidae |
| Genus: | Hylaeus |
| Species: | H. sanguinipictus |
| Binomial name | |
| Hylaeus sanguinipictus (Cockerell, 1914) | |
Hylaeus sanguinipictus is a bee species endemic to Western Australia. It was described in 1914 from material collected in Yallingup by Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell as Prosopis sanguinipicta.[1]
Like its relative the banksia bee (Hylaeus alcyoneus), H. sanguinipictus's expression of sexual dimorphism is unusual — the males of the species are larger than the females; in most other types of bee, females are larger than males. The males perch and defend Banksia inflorescences while waiting to mate with females, and combat other males.[2]
Western Australian banksias that the bee has been recorded visiting include B. menziesii and B. prionotes.[2]