Nesting and flower associations of the pollen wasp Ceramius fonscolombei Latreille, 1810 (Hymenoptera : Vespidae : Masarinae) in Spain

Following the concept of Gess and Gess (1988), the nesting and flower associations of Ceramius fonscolombei Latreille can be characterised by the following ethological elements: a. Nest excavated in non-friable soil; b. Burrow surmounted by a turret of earth extracted from within the burrow; c. Nest probably not re-used; d. Nest with a relatively short, vertical to sub-vertical main shaft, main shaft with a "bulb"-like expansion in the lower third of 50% of the nests; e. Main shaft continues into an oblique to subhorizontal secondary shaft terminated by a cell; f. Succeeding cells terminate further short, subhorizontal secondary shafts; g. Cells sub-horizontal, without preferred direction, except that the second cell is built at an angle of 140-170degrees from the first, all at different depths; h. No constructed mud-cell within an excavated cell; i. Forage plants are only species of Reseda (Resedaceae); analysis of brood cell contents revealed C fonscolombei to be oligolectic with regard to its pollen source: Cells were found to be provisioned with pollen of two species of Reseda.