Distribution and co-existence of the <i>Macropis</i> species and their cleptoparasite <i>Epeoloides coecutiens</i> (Fabr.) in NW Europe (Hymenoptera: Apoidea, Melittidae and Apidae)

Abstract

The Macropis species collect pollen and fatty oil secreted by flowers of loosestrifes (Lysimachia, Primulaceae) and are the only known oil-collecting bees in the Holarctic. In NW Europe, L. vulgaris is the main or (in large areas) sole pollen and oil source for M. europaea Warncke (labiata auct.) and M. fulvipes (Fabr.). The species are largely sympatric in southern Finland and the Baltic countries, while in Scandinavia and most of Denmark only M. europaea has been recorded. The ranges of the Macropis species are restricted to the areas of common occurrence of L. vulgaris. Presumably, Epeoloides coecutiens has colonized Finland and Estonia since about 1970. The phenology of M. fulvipes is some days earlier than that of M. europaea, and this temporal difference may decrease resource competition in the co-existing populations.