Morphology and palaeoenvironment of brood cells of Quaternary ground-nesting solitary bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae) from Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain

Abstract

On Fuerteventura, the abundance of in situ brood cells of ground-nesting solitary bees in Pleistocene and early Holocene loessic palaeosols and calcretes, and the presence of several taxa of land snails, living species of which occur today in the Mediterranean region and northwest Africa, indicates a semiarid climate, probably with hot, dry summers.