Many organisms are known to have wide distribution ranges, which cover large variability of ecological conditions. Therefore, natural history traits can differ throughout the distributional range, and, thus, studies on the natural history of traits from multiple areas of a single species are highly valuable. Ceratina cucurbitina is the most common small carpenter bee in Europe. We examined the social status of nests and maternal investment in four European locations: Czech Republic, Italy, Albania, and Crete. This species is solitary in all studied locations. We found evidence for nest reuse and founding of multiple nests per year; however, this behavior is relatively uncommon. The average number of brood cells provisioned was 8.75; however, this value was significantly lower in Crete than in other regions. Sex of offspring was related to brood cell position; the inner brood cells tended to be female-biased and outer brood cells male-biased. Despite that, we did not find evidence for the typical dwarf eldest daughter pattern of maternal investment in most studied regions. Generally, conditions for C. cucurbitina reproduction seem to be better in the center of the range (Italy, Albania) than on the margins (Czech Republic, Crete). A higher number of brood cell provisioned and/or larger size of offspring was found in central regions than in marginal regions.

众所周知，许多生物具有广泛的分布范围，涵盖了生态条件的巨大变化。因此，自然历史性状在整个分布范围内可能不同，因此，对单一物种多个区域性状的自然历史研究非常有价值。西葫芦是欧洲最常见的小型木匠蜂。我们研究了四个欧洲地区的巢穴和母体投资的社会地位：捷克共和国、意大利、阿尔巴尼亚和克里特岛。该物种在所有研究地点都是孤独的。我们发现了巢穴重复使用和每年建立多个巢穴的证据；但是，这种行为相对不常见。提供的育雏细胞的平均数量为 8.75；但是，克里特岛的这个值明显低于其他地区。后代性别与育雏位置有关；内巢细胞倾向于雌性，外巢细胞倾向于雄性。尽管如此，在大多数研究地区，我们没有发现典型的侏儒长女模式的母亲投资模式的证据。一般来说，C. cucurbitina的条件范围中心（意大利、阿尔巴尼亚）的繁殖似乎比边缘（捷克共和国、克里特岛）更好。与边缘地区相比，在中心地区发现了更多数量的育雏细胞和/或更大尺寸的后代。