Amegilla vivida (Apoidea: Apidae: Apinae: Anthophorini)
With over 250 species the large genus Amegilla is known worldwide. Most species are mid- to large size, compact-looking bees. In contrast to some other Apidae (Apis spp., stingless bees) they are all solitary bees. As far as is known, Amegilla species are all pollen collectors, provisioning their larvae in simple nests dug out of the soil. Twelve species of Amegilla have been recorded from Kenya. However, until we collected the aptly named Amegilla vivida in 2019, it hadn’t been recorded from Kenya. Amegilla vivida is predominately an equatorial lowland rainforest species distributed throughout central and west Africa, but there are records of the species as far east as Uganda, and as far south as Zimbabwe. The Kenyan specimen is from Kakamega forest, the easternmost relic of Guineo-Congolian rainforest.
Amegilla vivida Is a member of a group of Amegilla species commonly referred to as blue-banded bees. They’re a pleasure to look at because blue is a beautiful colour that’s not common in the insect world (at least outside of the bees) and you can see it properly on the relatively large species of Amegilla. Green setae on the head and thorax are the icing on the A. vivida cake which makes it the most striking of Amegilla species.
Because they are strong fliers and easily disturbed there aren’t many images of Amegilla in the field. There is a nice short video on YouTube of a foraging blue-banded bee (not A. vivida) at work in India. Unfortunately the video is paired with a distractingly juvenile soundtrack). Turn the sound off and watch. (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M74DbTtyDyg)
Amegilla species have been shown to participate in two pollination syndromes. In a nice study by Dino Martins of pollination of Saintpaulia (Gesneriaceae, African violets), he discovered that the East African endemic species, Saintpaulia teitensis, known in the wild only from the Taita Hills of southeastern Kenya, is pollinated by 4 separate species of Amegilla, and only by them. After landing on a flower the Amegilla bee vibrates its flight muscles causing the release of the otherwise sticky pollen from the anthers. Interestingly the honeybee (Apis mellifera) does not use “buzz pollination” and, as a result, is a poor pollinator of Solanaceous flowers; (e.g. tomato [Solanum lycopersicum, eggplant [Solanum melongena], and potato [Solanum tuberosum].
The second mechanism, called “’explosive” pollination, involves A. vivida, itself, along with its host species of Marantaceae (arrowroot family), whereby plant mechanics ensure that self-pollination is minimized and cross-pollen transfer from bee to flower is maximized. Amegilla vivida is an important pollinator of the medium to large-sized flowers of Marantaceae.
Credits: Dr Robert Copeland