Ceratina (Ctenoceratina)

Taxonomy

Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Xylocopinae
Tribe: Ceratinini
Genus: Ceratina Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Ctenoceratina Daly and Moure, 1988
Common name: small carpenter bees

Overview

Ceratina (Ctenoceratina) have black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
, occasionally with metallic reflections, and pale markings limited to the head, pronotal lobes, and legs. Their body length varies between 5–9 mm (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Daly 1988Daly 1988:
Daly, H.V. 1988. Bees of the new genus Ctenoceratina in Africa south of the Sahara (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology 108: 1ndash;66.; Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.)

• Middle tibiatibia:
  the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
  with a bidentatebidentate:
  having two teeth
  dorso-apical spine.
• Paraocular paraocular:
  the area extending along the sides of the face parallel to the eye
  area above the antennal socket distinctly punctatepunctate:
  studded with tiny holes
  .
• Propodeum propodeum:
  the last segment of the thorax
  and metanotummetanotum:
  the posterior dorsal segment of the thorax, behind the scutellum
  sloping at an obtuse angle to the scutumscutum:
  the large segment on top of the thorax located between the wings and behind the head
  .
• T2–T5 and S2–S5 with an apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  row of coarse, thick setaesetae:
  a still hair-like structure or bristle
  .
• Female clypeusclypeus:
  a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
  with an ivory mark in the shape of a spot, a stripe, or hat.
• Male mid leg without special hair brushes.
• Male sternum 5 without subapicalsubapical:
  located just behind the apex of the segment or body part
  protuberanceprotuberance:
  rising or produced above the surface or the general level of a feature
  .

May be confused with

Ceratina (Ctenoceratina) may be confused with species in C. (Simioceratina), because they both have apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
rows of coarse, sometimes scale-like setaesetae:
a still hair-like structure or bristle
on T2T2:
the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, or T7
to T5T5:
the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, or T7
, and S2S2:
the plates on the underside of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, or S8
to S5S5:
the plates on the underside of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, or S8
. However, unlike Simioceratina, Ctenoceratina's scutellumscutellum:
shield shaped plate behind scutum
 slopes less abruptly to join the sloping metanotummetanotum:
the posterior dorsal segment of the thorax, behind the scutellum
and propodeumpropodeum:
the last segment of the thorax
(Eardley et al. 2010Eardley et al. 2010:
Eardley, C., M. Kuhlmann, and A. Pauly. 2010. The Bee Genera and Subgenera of sub-Saharan Africa. Abc taxa 7: 1-145.).

Host associations

Ceratina (Ctenoceratina) armata has been observed visiting the plant families Aizoaceae and Fabaceae (Ascher and Pickering 2020Ascher and Pickering 2020:
Ascher, J.S. and J. Pickering. 2020. Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila). https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=Carinulaamp;name=Megachileamp;flags=subgenus :).

Nesting behavior

Females excavate nesting burrows in dead stems of a variety of plants. Normally, a single adult female is found in a nest, but occasionally two females can be present in one nest with brood, particularly in C. moerenhouti. Although a few adult female and male bees may be found together in empty nests during inactive seasons, they do not form large aggregations (Daly 1988Daly 1988:
Daly, H.V. 1988. Bees of the new genus Ctenoceratina in Africa south of the Sahara (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology 108: 1ndash;66.).

Diversity

Ceratina (Ctenoceratina) contains ten species (Daly 1988Daly 1988:
Daly, H.V. 1988. Bees of the new genus Ctenoceratina in Africa south of the Sahara (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology 108: 1ndash;66.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Ctenoceratina is widespread in Africa, south of the Sahara, from Senegal to Ethiopia, all the way down to South Africa (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

​Distribution map generated by Discover Life -- click on map for details, credits, and terms of use.

References

Daly, H.V. 1988. Bees of the new genus Ctenoceratina in Africa south of the Sahara (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology 108: 1–66.

Eardley, C., M. Kuhlmann, and A. Pauly. 2010. The Bee Genera and Subgenera of sub-Saharan Africa. Abc taxa 7: 1-145.

Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.