BTB Anthidium florentinum (Linnaeus, 1775)
length: females 11mm to 13mm. males 14mm to 17mm.
Flight season June to September (in Spain)
Anthidium florentinum is a very similar species to Anthidium manicatum, the later seems to have more broader black markings on its body, (I stand to be corrected).
Anthidium florentinum is a species of solitary bees, found in parts of Europe, mainly around the Mediterranean Basin and North Africa. It is considered as an invasive species in North America and Canada, where it was introduced recently by accident.
Habitats… a species which favours many different flower rich habitats, so is very adaptable and can be found in urban gardens, wastelands, soft coastal cliffs and sandy soils. heathlands, wetlands, meadows, riverbanks, woodland clearings, rides, hedgerows and a variety of brownfields, in fact a very versatile bee being able to nest and feed in a vast assortment of terrains.
Being a member of the Anthidium tribe of megachilid bees, A. florentium has highly elaborate nesting behavior and construct their nests in pre-existing cavities.
The name ‘carder’ refers to the female’s behaviour of scrapping off plant hairs like thistledown, Lambs ear, yarrow, and other furry leaf plants, these are combed off the plant by using special rows of hairs on their legs. The material is then carried back to the nest, shaped into a ball held under the body; this material is then used as lining for their nest cavities. The female creates several cells in a cavity and once finished, she seals the entrance to the cavity with a terminal plug; which consists of inorganic and organic materials that she brings to the nest. The wool-carder nests in a variety of places usually using existing holes: in the ground, wood, masonry, buildings and even plant stems. The females have specialised hairs on their face to gather pollen grains, both sexes collect pollen by using the stiff feathers on the back of their abdomen.
The males are considerably larger than the females and are highly aggressive, especially against other wool-carder males as well as other nectar seeking flying insects around the flowers within his territory. The wool-carders main objective is to keep the area free of potential competitors that might interfere with his mating opportunities.
Both sexes are capable of extreme hovering movements, similar to hoverflies in the “Syrphidae” family. The male will hover regularly as he surveys, always ready to mate with a female who forages in his territory and copulations can occur repeatedly. He will also use the aerial hovering surveillance to his advantage, as he continuously attacks other flying insects; anything goes from head butting, body slamming and will even wrestle an intruder to the ground. When attacking in close combat, the claw shaped spines at the end of the male’s abdomen are used to crush and tear another intruding insect. In most cases intruders are seldom injured; as they are chased away soon after being attacked. Very rarely an attack will lead to another insect being severely or fatality injured, but it can happen and does happen. (At first while photographing him and other insects on his patch he would fly in circles and hover very close, eyeballing me! I took this as him showing his irritation of my presence. Although after several minutes he was back to his predictive behaviour, pursuing the females and defending his territory from other bees and flying insects. Later I was concerned for his safety, as there was a very large Robberfly hunting on the fringes of his patch. I was not sure if he was going to be there for much longer, but glad to say over the next few weeks on the occasional days I visited; he was always there. After the first day, I believe he accepted my presence by taking little notice of me).