Discovery in Burgenland

Long-horned bee spotted in Austria for the first time

The unusually long antennae of the males are striking and give the long-horned bees their name (see picture).(Bild: APA/University Libre de Bruxelles)

A male long-horned bee caught in a field of alfalfa plants in Burgenland seemed rather unusual to its discoverer and his colleagues from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Boku) Vienna.

After more precise identification by the Natural History Museum (NHM) Vienna, the insect turned out to be a representative of the species Eucera vulpes. Based on its scientific name, the insect can be called the fox long-horned bee, the Boku announced.

The bee species is actually mainly found in the Mediterranean region: "Southern European bee species are increasingly migrating northwards due to the climatic conditions becoming more favorable for them. First records for Austria often occur in the east of the country," zoologist Sophie Kratschmer is quoted as saying in a Boku press release.

The females of the species were observed in Sicily visiting the flowers of composite flowers and broad-leaved plants. Due to a lack of field observations, it is still unclear which plants in Austria are visited by the female Eucera vulpes to collect pollen and nectar.