author(s)
Sandeep KJ and Muthuraman M

abstract
The most common blue banded bee occurring in Tamil Nadu, India is Amegilla zonata (Linnaeus). Nests are often built together in one place forming nest congregation. Females of blue banded bees have a well-defined brood cell cycle involving cell construction, waxing, provisioning, egg laying and cell capping. Red soil and potting mixture are found to be the best substrates for nesting. Each female bee digs out her own nest burrow of depth 4 to 30 cm using her strong mandibles and push out the excavated soil outside with her legs forming a tumulus. Sometimes they build a turret of varying height over the nest opening using discarded soil. The nest shaft extends from nest entrance to a cluster of earthen brood cells. Brood cells are cylindrical, urn shaped and internally lined with thick, water proof linings. Each brood cell was mass provisioned with of bee bread on which creamy white egg is laid individually by a female bee. The first instar larva is straight. The second instar larva has slightly pigmented mandibles. The third instar larva is ‘C’ shaped and found along with a small amount of unutilized brood food. The fourth instar larva almost occupies the brood cell without any unconsumed larval food. It consumes also the wax linings and shrinks slightly before turning into a prepupa. Pupal eye colouration changes from yellow to orange and then to brown and finally black. As it matures pupa transforms into adult within a fortnight. Heavy rains and brood mites (Rhizoglyphus sp. and Histiostoma sp.) attack affects the development of bees.