Amegilla asserta

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

Amegilla asserta is a pale blue-banded bee found across much of eastern and south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The 2017 revision of Australian Amegilla describes it as one of the common, widespread species along the eastern seaboard.

Appearance

Both sexes have yellow facial marks and pale blue abdominal hair bands. Females have a long dark streak on the hind tibia, part of the hind leg, and a dense pale patch near the end of the abdomen. The male has a distinctive patch of branched hairs on the fifth abdominal sternite, an underside plate. These features help separate it from the similar A. indistincta and A. thorogoodi.

Range and season

Records extend from Cape York along Queensland's east coast, through New South Wales and Victoria, to Tasmania, the Mount Lofty Ranges and Eyre Peninsula. In the south, adults are mainly active from November to April, with a January peak in the revision's records. Northern records occur throughout the year, with fewer in July, August and September.

Taxonomy

Cockerell named A. asserta in 1926. Its name-bearing specimen is a male collected at Lower Ferntree Gully, Victoria, in January 1916. The 2017 revision treated A. assertiella, A. longmani, A. perasserta, A. perpulchra and A. whiteleyella as synonyms. These names had divided material that the revisers considered to belong to a single species.