View original imageThis is an original generative reconstruction, not a photograph or scientific plate.
200 / Cenozoic
Green-headed Ctenoplectrelline Bee
Ctenoplectrella viridiceps
Amber sealed an extinct mason-bee relative whose long hind-leg hairs show that it actively collected and transported pollen.
- Time range
- About 47–41 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Eocene
- Geographic range
- Northern European resin forest · Baltic region
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Green-headed Ctenoplectrelline Bee?
Green-headed Ctenoplectrelline Bee (Ctenoplectrella viridiceps) was an extinct organism known from About 47–41 million years ago, with a range in Northern European resin forest · Baltic region.
Life and ecology
Ctenoplectrella belonged to a distinctive Eocene bee tribe. Its venation and body proportions differ from most modern bees, while long hind-tibial hairs probably formed a pollen brush used among flowering plants of the warm Baltic forest.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Green-headed Ctenoplectrelline Bee disappear?
Cooling and European plant turnover near the end of the Eocene removed most of the unusual ctenoplectrelline bee fauna.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Green-headed Ctenoplectrelline Bee?
Baltic amber preserves antennae, venation, body hairs and hind-leg pollen structures in three dimensions; revisions place it in an extinct megachiline lineage.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS