vs Cliff Mining Bee

Chroococcus turicensis compared with Andrena thoracica

Key Differences

is Not Evaluated while Cliff Mining Bee is Extinct.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank		Cliff Mining Bee
Kingdom	Bacteria (Bacteria)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Cyanobacteria (Cyanobacteria)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Cyanobacteriia	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Cyanobacteriales	Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees & Wasps)
Family	Microcystaceae	Andrenidae
Genus	Chroococcus	Andrena
Species	Chroococcus turicensis	Andrena thoracica

Conservation Status

NE — Not Evaluated

Cliff Mining Bee

EX — Extinct

Physical Characteristics

Attribute		Cliff Mining Bee
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Norway and Sweden.

Cliff Mining Bee

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden.

Chroococcus turicensis is a species of cyanobacteria in the family Chroococcaceae, with the specific epithet turicensis referring to Turicum, the Latin name for the city of Zurich, Switzerland, suggesting that the species was first described or commonly documented from Swiss freshwater habitats. Chroococcus species are small, coccoid cyanobacteria occurring in pairs or tetrads within gelatinous sheaths in freshwater and moist environments. Chroococcus turicensis has been recorded from lakes and other freshwater localities in central Europe, including the alpine and pre-alpine lakes of Switzerland. Alpine and subalpine freshwater bodies are generally oligotrophic, and the cyanobacteria that inhabit them tend to be well adapted to low nutrient concentrations and clear, well-lit waters. The freshwater phytoplankton of Alpine lakes has been extensively studied due to the ecological and economic importance of these water bodies as drinking water reservoirs and indicators of environmental change. Chroococcus turicensis contributes to the diversity of the cyanobacterial component of such communities. Like all Chroococcus species, it is a prokaryote whose conservation status has not been assessed by the IUCN.

Cliff Mining Bee

The Cliff Mining Bee, Andrena species in the family Andrenidae, is a solitary ground-nesting bee that excavates tunnels in cliff faces, earthen banks, and compacted sandy or loamy soils, where the loose or friable substrates exposed in cliff profiles provide ideal nesting conditions. Mining bees in the genus Andrena are among the most species-rich solitary bee genera in the world, with hundreds of species across the Holarctic region, many narrowly specialized in their choice of pollen host plants. Female cliff mining bees construct vertical or angled burrows in cliff faces, with lateral cells off the main shaft, each containing a pollen ball and a single egg. Males are typically smaller and emerge before females to establish territories near nesting sites. Many Andrena species are oligolectic, collecting pollen from only a small number of plant species, making their populations sensitive to the availability of specific flowering plants in the landscape surrounding nesting areas. Cliff and bank nesting habitats provide well-drained, sun-warmed substrates essential for brood development. The loss of natural cliff faces and earthen banks to development, vegetation succession, and quarrying reduces available nesting habitat for cliff mining bees.