Martinapis luteicornis (Cockerell 1896)

Martinapis (Martinapis) luteicornis (Cockerell)

Females of this species visit Larrea for nectar and pollen both morning and evening, and males are also present at these times. Alternative pollen sources for this species are not well known. Both sexes appear to prefer legumes for nectar and have been taken by us in numbers on Hoffmanseggia and Cercidium before and after sunrise and on Dalea (MacSwain, 1957; Michener, 1966), and less frequently Acacia, in the morning and in the late afternoon. Only occasionally are females taken from these plants carrying pollen (MacSwain, 1957). In southeastern Arizona we have occasionally cap tured them while they were gathering pollen from Solanum elaeagnifolium in the morning (Linsley and Cazier, 1970) and once on Mentzelia pumila in the evening in the company of numerous nectar-drinking males (Linsley and Cazier, 1963). However, neither of these plants appears to be preferred as a pollen host.

All-day samples at Las Cruces, New Mexico, yielded 80 females taking pollen from Larrea, 34 taking nectar, and 28 nectar-seeking males. Females were most numerous between 0500 and 0630, but their activity period extended to about 0945 and resumed at 1730, extending to about 1845. They were also found at Larrea in all the San Simon Valley sites and at Soccoro and Elephant Butte in New Mexico and at Douglas, Arizona.

Martinapis luteicornis, the yellow-horned morning long-horned bee, is a species of long-horned bee in the family Apidae. It is found in Central America and North America.

Yellow-horned morning long-horned bee, Martinapis luteicornis