Amegilla adelaidae

Tilcayo Cats original · Amegilla · Sources and editorial assessment · Originals retention rule

Amegilla adelaidae is an Australian bee with pale orange bands of hair across its abdomen. It occurs mainly in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the arid zone, and belongs to the Zonamegilla group of Amegilla.

Identification

The abdominal bands have a matt appearance in both sexes. Females also have a broad, continuous patch of white hair on the fifth upper abdominal plate. In males, the shape and hair arrangement of a plate on the underside of the abdomen provide diagnostic characters; these are specialist features rather than an easy garden identification test.

Name and records

Cockerell described the species in 1905. The name-bearing male came from Adelaide River in the Northern Territory. In the 2017 revision, the authors confirmed the species' identity from the form of that male's seventh abdominal sternite. The revision includes records from several months, with the largest number in May, but its table alone does not establish a fixed flight season throughout the bee's range.