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Squeamish bees
Many solitary bees gather the pollen from
a single plant species or few closely related plants. Their period of
activity is temporally adjusted to the flowering period of their plant host,
and they spend the rest of the year in the state of dormancy, as larvae, in
their nests. Their squeamishness provides them with a safe source of food,
until the conditions in their environment change. This also leads to the
development of a large number of bee species, for each adapts to its own
plants. The genus Andrena has the greatest number of species in
Europe, and most of them visit only their selected flowers. |
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Colletes hederae mining bees are active late in the autumn, when their nutritious
plant, the ivy (Hedera helix), is blossoming. |
The hosts of Andrena hattorfiana are solely Knautia and Scabiosa sp. |
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Andrena potentillae visits only the five-finger's (Potentilla sp.) flowers. |
On loosestrifes (Lysimachia sp.), Macropis fulvipes bees gather floral oils instead of nectar with their specialized
hairs. |
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Slovenian
Museum of Natural History
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