Sphecodes gibbus
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| Sphecodes gibbus | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Halictidae |
| Genus: | Sphecodes |
| Species: | S. gibbus |
| Binomial name | |
| Sphecodes gibbus (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Sphecodes gibbus, the dark-winged blood bee, is a species of cleptoparasitic blood bee from the Palearctic. It is the type species of the genus Sphecodes and was first described by Carl Linnaeus as Sphex gibba in 1758.
Sphecodes gibbus is a relatively large Sphecodes species with a body length of around 10mm. Like other blood bees they are mainly black and red in colour.[2] S. gibbus is one in three species of similar sized blood bees in which the females have punctures, instead of merely rugosity, to the posterior of the ocelli. The female S. gibbus may be separated from the similar S. monilicornis by its wider, less square shaped head, the darker pubescence on the hind tibiae and thinner propodeum. The broader zone of punctures to the rear of the ocelli allow separation from S. reticulatus, S. gibbus having 5-6 irregular rows of punctures rather than the 2-3 shown by S. reticulatus, as well as possessing sparser punctures at the base of the fourth tergite. The wings of female S. gibbus also tend to be darker in color than those in other blood bees and tergites 1 and 3 are often partly darkened. The males are the only male Sphecodes with abundant punctures located in rows at the back of the ocelli, their genitalia are also distinctive.[3]