Summary
On Dartmoor, UK the temperate halictine beeLasioglossum (Evylaeus) fratellum is solitary and univoltine. A significant proportion of individually marked foundresses reproduce during two different seasons (iteroparity). This could represent a form of risk-spreading in environments where conditions are harsh and unpredictable. Perhaps associated with iteroparity, foundresses put in relatively low reproductive effort, often failing to provision their nests on suitable days, despite the small number of days available on Dartmoor. Foundresses stopped provisioning asynchronously, then remained in their nests until well after offspring emergence. There was a small proportion of digynous nests, in which nest-sharing appeared to be temporary.L. (E.) calceatum had a similar life-cycle on Dartmoor.L. villosulum was also solitary, and was able to provision its nests under less favourable weather conditions than the other two species. Information is also provided on nest productivity andSphecodes parasites.
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Field, J. Patterns of provisioning and iteroparity in a solitary halictine bee,Lasioglossum (Evylaeus) fratellum (Perez), with notes onL. (E.) calceatum (Scop.) andL. (E.) villosulum (K.). Ins. Soc 43, 167–182 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01242568
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01242568