☕ M'offrir un café 😊
top of page

Calliopsis andreniformis

Close-up view from the side of a male Calliopsis andreniformis (solitary bee) against a black background. Its body is covered with hair.

Sam Droege, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Calliopsis male

USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab from Beltsville, Maryland, USA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Appearance

The Calliopsis (Calliopsis andreniformis) measures between 5 mm and 15 mm. The female bee can be distinguished from the male by her distinctive coloring. Dressed entirely in black, the female stands out with her cream-colored stripes on her abdomen and small yellow spots on her legs and head. Her wings are translucent with multicolored iridescence.

​

However, the male bee has nothing to be ashamed of, as its legs, the underside of its abdomen, and the lower half of its face are a bright yellow. As for the female, the upper part of her face is black, and her wings are translucent with multicolored iridescence.

Hatching and Reproduction

According to Gemini, the life cycle of the Calliopsis begins in the spring after passing through the egg, bee larva, and pupa stages over the course of the winter.

Socialization, Housing, and Nutrition

She socializes very little, although it is possible that she could coexist with other solitary bees.

​

The young (larvae) live in the honeycomb, while the adults are found primarily in deserts, arid regions, grasslands, steppes, urban areas, and suburban areas. Adults, for their part, prefer deserts, arid regions, grasslands, steppes, urban areas, suburban areas, agricultural and cultivated areas, as well as forests and woodlands.

​

As an adult, she drinks nectar. The larvae, on the other hand, consume bee bread (pollen + fermented nectar). Over time, this undergoes a slight fermentation, which makes it more nutritious for the larvae. However, royal jelly is a secretion unique to social bees, such as the honeybee (Apis mellifera).

​

This is a very selective type of bee, since its favorite type of flower belongs to the Asteraceae family (flat flowers). That is, flowers that are composed of several individual flowers.

​

This is where the industrial quantities of pollen come from. Dandelions and sunflowers are good examples. In addition, it can extract floral oils that will help various flowers grow in different climates.

Predators

Here is a detailed list of bee predators for Calliopsis, according to Google's Gemini artificial intelligence, with a description for each:

  • Birds: They are indeed a constant threat, both to the larvae (as they burrow) and to the adults in flight.

  • Spiders: In particular, crab spiders (Thomisidae), which camouflage themselves on the flowers of Asteraceae (dandelions, sunflowers) that bees frequent.

  • Asilid flies (Asilidae): These are formidable aerial predators that capture wild bees in mid-flight.

​

"Specialized" predators

Since the Calliopsis nests in the ground, its greatest enemies are often small opportunists:

  • Satellite flies (Miltogramminae): They do not eat the bee, but lay their larvae in its nest. The fly larvae then eat the "bee bread," causing the Calliopsis larva to starve to death.

  • Cuckoo Bees (Nomada): Some species of parasitic bees invade nests to lay their own eggs there.

  • Beetles (such as the Meloidae): Their larvae (triongulins) cling to bees on flowers to be carried to the nest, where they devour the food stores.

  • Wasps: These are often burrowing or social wasps that hunt to feed their colony.

  • Mammals: In Quebec, skunks and raccoons are the main culprits. They don’t hesitate to scratch at the ground if they detect a cluster of nests.

Similar articles​
 

-Panurginus Banksianus

-The Perditas Albipenis Bee

-The Andrena Wilkella bee

​-Honey...but that's not all

-A professional dancer

Sources

Taxonomic Databases and Identification

  • Discover Life: A global reference for the mapping and morphological characteristics of solitary bees (Calliopsis andreniformis).

  • BugGuide (Iowa State University): An expert-validated natural history database for observing nesting behaviors and life cycles.

  • Mitchell, T.B. (1960): Bees of the Eastern United States. A reference work providing a technical description of bee species in the northeastern United States.

Ecology and Biology of Pollinators

  • Michener, C.D. (2007): *The Bees of the World*. A comprehensive study of bee biology, confirming that solitary species feed on bee bread and do not produce honey.

  • Pollinator Partnership Canada: Data on plant-pollinator interactions and the specialization of Calliopsis within the Asteraceae family.

  • Space for Life (Montreal Insectarium): Information specific to the Quebec context regarding local predators (skunks, raccoons) and adaptation to the northern climate.

Interactions and Predators

  • O'Toole, C. & Raw, A. (1991): Bees of the World. Analysis of biological threats, including cuckoo bees (Nomada) and parasitic flies.

Author's note: This article was written with the assistance of Google's Gemini artificial intelligence for the synthesis of entomological data and the verification of scientific facts.

​

___________________________________________________________

Andrène de Wilke. (n.d.). Picture Insect. Retrieved August 22, 2025, from https://pictureinsect.com/fr/wiki/Andrena_wilkella.html

 

Bryony aphid. (n.d.). Picture Insect. Retrieved August 21, 2025, from https://pictureinsect.com/fr/wiki/Andrena_florea.html

​​

Calliopsis subalpina. (n.d.). Picture Insect. Retrieved August 21, 2025, from https://pictureinsect.com/fr/wiki/Calliopsis_subalpina.html​

​

Perdita Albipennis. (n.d.). Picture Insect. Retrieved August 21, 2025, from https://pictureinsect.com/fr/wiki/Perdita_albipennis.html

​

Limestone Panurge. (n.d.). Picture Insect. Retrieved August 21, 2025, from https://pictureinsect.com/fr/wiki/Panurgus_calcaratus.html

bottom of page