Blue banded bee

Appearance

''A. cingulata'' has a very striking appearance, similar to several other species of ''Amegilla''. Unlike honey bees, it has pale opalescent blue stripes on its abdomen. The male can be distinguished by the number of complete bands, having five as opposed to the females' four. In size, ''A. cingulata'' can grow to 10–12 millimetres.

Distribution

''A. cingulata'' is native to Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia and India. It appears to live in tropical and subtropical regions. The bees inhabit urban areas, woodlands, forests and heath areas.

Behavior

Blue banded bees can sting but are not as aggressive as other bees. The males cling to plant stems during the night. They are solitary creatures, with single females inhabiting burrows in the soil or soft stone, unlike social species such as honey bees which live in large colonies.

''A. cingulata'' builds a solitary nest, but often close to one another. Blue banded bees tend to nest in burrows in dried up river banks, old clay homes and in mortar between bricks, but may also burrow in soft sandstone, and areas of this type of rock can become riddled with bee tunnels. Cells, at the end of tunnels, contain an egg with a pollen/nectar mixture for the larval food.

Habitat

''A. cingulata'' is native to Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia and India. It appears to live in tropical and subtropical regions. The bees inhabit urban areas, woodlands, forests and heath areas.

Food

''A. cingulata'' in Australia collects the majority of its nectar from blue flowers, although others investigated include mountain devil , grey spider flower as well as the introduced ''Abelia grandiflora'' and lavender.

They also feed on some non-blue flowers such as the white form of ''Salvia coccinea'', tomato and eggplant flowers, white flowers of ''Leea indica'' and some members of the Verbenaceae family. The bees use a process that involves clinging onto flowers and vibrating powerfully, which increases the release of pollen. They only have a limited foraging range of roughly 300 m from their nest, and females make at least nine foraging flights per day.

Predators

''A. cingulata'' is preyed upon by many animals, including the Cane Toad, frogs and birds. Its nests are parasitized by the neon cuckoo bee ''Thyreus nitidulus''. Human activity, for example the clearing of river banks in the Caboolture River may threaten nest sites of this bee.