Tag Archives: Hylaeus gliddenae

Hylaeus gliddenae Magnacca & Daly

Glidden’s Masked Bee (Hylaeus gliddenae 

This species was described in 2003 based on a single (?) specimen, a male that had been collected sometimes in the early 20th century at an not further specified locality on the Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawai’i.

The species is known to have nested in the burrows left behind by the larvae of beetles from the genus Halcobius in the stems of kolea (Myrsine spp.).

The species differs from nearly all others by its red metasoma (the posterior part of the body), which it shares only with the Paradox Masked Bee (Hylaeus paradoxus (Schrottky)), and by its somewhat u-shaped facial markings. [1]

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References:

[1] Howell V. Daly; Elwood Curtin Zimmerman; Karl N. Magnacca: ‘Insects of Hawaii; Volume 17; Hawaiian Hylaeus (Nesoprosopis) Bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). 2003

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edited: 12.06.2020