Amegilla alpha

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

Amegilla alpha is an Australian bee with orange hair over the upper surface of the abdomen. Although it resembles the teddy bear bees placed in Asaropoda, a 2017 revision placed it in Zonamegilla, another group within Amegilla.

Recognising the species

The orange covering occurs in both sexes. Yellow marks beside the female's eyes, the profile of the face, hairs in the forewing cells and features of the male's abdominal underside distinguish it from Asaropoda. The revision's redescribed female, collected at Jasper Gorge in the Northern Territory, was 14 mm long.

A limited record

The name-bearing male has no locality data. The revision questioned older reports from Toowoomba and Mackay because they did not fit the material examined, and their author had not inspected that type specimen. Its dated records comprised only three from April and two from May. Those five records are too limited to describe the species' full annual activity or to infer that it is rare.