Brokadbi Epeoloides coecutiens ett nytt kleptoparasitiskt bi i Sverige (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

Epeoloides coecutiens (Fabricius, 1775) is reported both as a new species and new genus to the Swedish wild bee fauna. This bee species is a cleptoparasite and lays its eggs in the brood cells of Macropis europaea Warncke, 1973 and M. fulvipes (Fabricius, 1775), the latter yet not found in Sweden, but in adjacent parts of Finland (the archipelago of Åland). The two host species are both narrowly oligolectic, and have specialized on collecting pollen and oil from the flowers of Loosestrifes (Lysimachia Primulaceae). Four females of E. coecutiens were observed within a nest aggregation of M. europaea on a well-grazed pasture close to the shoreline at Riddersholm Nature Reserve, Norrtälje, Uppland. One of these was collected for documentation. The identification, appearance and biology of the bee is described and factors that might explain immigration events are briefly discussed.