Black-throated Mango vs Clover Melitta
Anthracothorax nigricollis compared with Melitta leporina
Key Differences
- Black-throated Mango is Least Concern while Clover Melitta is Near Threatened.
Taxonomic Classification
| Rank | Black-throated Mango | Clover Melitta |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom same | Animalia (Animals) | Animalia (Animals) |
| Phylum | Chordata (Chordates) | Arthropoda (Arthropods) |
| Class | Aves (Birds) | Insecta (Insects) |
| Order | Apodiformes (Apodiformes) | Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps) |
| Family | Trochilidae | Melittidae |
| Genus | Anthracothorax | Melitta |
| Species | Anthracothorax nigricollis | Melitta leporina |
Evolutionary Relationship
Black-throated Mango and Clover Melitta share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)
Conservation Status
Black-throated Mango
LC — Least ConcernClover Melitta
NT — Near ThreatenedPhysical Characteristics
| Attribute | Black-throated Mango | Clover Melitta |
|---|---|---|
| Diet | — | — |
| Average Lifespan | — | — |
| Average Length | — | — |
| Average Weight | — | — |
Habitat & Geographic Range
Black-throated Mango
Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.
Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.
Clover Melitta
Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.
Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.
Black-throated Mango
A large, striking hummingbird of tropical forests from southern Mexico to Argentina, black-throated mangos have dramatic sexual dimorphism — males display glittering black throat and breast with violet and green flanks and a bold purple tail, while females are white below with a central black stripe. Inhabiting forest edges, clearings, and gardens, they aggressively defend flowering trees. Males perform spectacular aerial display flights at treetop height. Listed as Least Concern across their broad neotropical range.
Clover Melitta
The clover Melitta (Melitta leporina) is a solitary bee in the family Melittidae, order Hymenoptera, with a distribution centered on temperate Europe including Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden. Unlike social bees, Melitta species are ground-nesting solitary bees in which each female constructs and provisions her own nest independently. M. leporina is oligolectic — highly specialized in its pollen collection — gathering pollen almost exclusively from leguminous plants, particularly clovers (Trifolium), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), and related species in the family Fabaceae. This specialization makes the bee closely dependent on the availability of flowering legume patches within foraging distance of nesting sites. Nest sites are in bare or sparsely vegetated sandy or loamy soils, often in sunny, sheltered locations such as road embankments, field margins, and sandy grasslands. Adults fly from midsummer through early autumn in a single annual generation. M. leporina is classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, reflecting declining populations across much of its European range due to agricultural intensification, loss of flower-rich grasslands, reduction in diverse legume cultivation, and loss of suitable open nesting habitat. Conservation of M. leporina depends on maintaining semi-natural grassland habitats with diverse flowering legumes and accessible sandy soils for nesting, along with reduction of pesticide use that harms adult foraging and larval survival.
Related Comparisons
Nature FYI Family
Explore more of the natural world across our sister sites.
Part of the Nature FYI family — FYIPedia