Taxonomy
Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Pseudoanthidium, Friese 1898
Subgenus: Pseudoanthidium, Friese 1898
Species: Pseudoanthidium xinjiangense (Wu, 2004)
Background
Pseudoanthidium xinjiangense are relatively small, 6-7 mm bees. Only the female of the species is known. They have a predominantly black
integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
with symmetrical yellow markings on their face,
tergaterga:
the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, or T7
, and often the
scutellumscutellum:
shield shaped plate behind scutum
. Their legs are predominantly yellow-orange and may be black at the base. The female has red-orange mandibles with 5 black teeth. They have small yellow portions on their face and their
clypeusclypeus:
a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
is yellow with a central black section and thin, white
pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
that covers most of their body. Their wings are a translucent dark brown (
Niu et al. 2021Niu et al. 2021:
Niu, Z., Luo, A., Griswold, T., Zhu, C. 2021. Review of the bee genus Pseudoanthidium Friese, 1898 (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini) of China with descriptions of three new species. Zootaxa, 4996 (1): 133–152.;
Wu 2004bWu 2004b:
Wu, Yan-Ru. 2004. The first record of the genus Anthidiellum Cockerell 1904 from China with descriptions of three new species (Apoidea, Megachilidae, Anthidiini). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 29(4): 774-777.).
Distribution
Pseudoanthidium xinjiangense is known from China (
Niu et al. 2021Niu et al. 2021:
Niu, Z., Luo, A., Griswold, T., Zhu, C. 2021. Review of the bee genus Pseudoanthidium Friese, 1898 (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini) of China with descriptions of three new species. Zootaxa, 4996 (1): 133–152.).
Host associations
Pseudoanthidium xinjiangense has been reported visiting the Onagraceae species
Epilobium angustifolium (
Niu et al. 2021Niu et al. 2021:
Niu, Z., Luo, A., Griswold, T., Zhu, C. 2021. Review of the bee genus Pseudoanthidium Friese, 1898 (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini) of China with descriptions of three new species. Zootaxa, 4996 (1): 133–152.).
Diagnostic characteristics
(Modified from Niu et al. 2021Niu et al. 2021:
Niu, Z., Luo, A., Griswold, T., Zhu, C. 2021. Review of the bee genus Pseudoanthidium Friese, 1898 (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini) of China with descriptions of three new species. Zootaxa, 4996 (1): 133–152. and Wu 2004bWu 2004b:
Wu, Yan-Ru. 2004. The first record of the genus Anthidiellum Cockerell 1904 from China with descriptions of three new species (Apoidea, Megachilidae, Anthidiini). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 29(4): 774-777.)
-
Clypeus clypeus:
a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
with some maculations but not entirely yellow.
-
Mandible mandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
with 5 teeth.
-
Paraocular paraocular:
the area extending along the sides of the face parallel to the eye
maculations only up to the level of the antennal socket.
-
Frons frons:
the area between the antennae and ocelli on the bee's head
without maculations.
-
Propodeum propodeum:
the last segment of the thorax
with well defined, but not carinatecarinate:
having keels or carinae
, foveafovea:
a depressed region of cuticle; in bees this depressed area is usually only very slightly hollow and usually on the face.
behind the spiraclespiracle:
a breathing pore, usually occurring on the third thorasic segment
.
-
Punctures on the scutellumscutellum:
shield shaped plate behind scutum
and basalbasal:
originating at the foundation of a structure
part of T1T1:
the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, or T7
larger than on the vertexvertex:
the area between the ocelli and the back of the head
.
May be confused with
Pseudoanthidium xinjiangense is similar to
P. cribratum but differs in the dark
supraclypeal areasupraclypeal area:
the region of the head between the antennal sockets and clypeus, demarcated on the sides by the subantennal sutures
,
axillaaxilla:
the triangular or rounded point on the thorax where thoracic muscles meet the forewing of an insect
, and smaller macululations on the
clypeusclypeus:
a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
and
tergaterga:
the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, or T7
(
Wu 2004Wu 2004:
Wu, Y. 2004. Ten new species of the tribe Osmiini from China (Apoidea, Megachilidae, Osmiini). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica 29: 531ndash;537.). It is also similar to
P. circinatum but can be differentiated by the presence of
foveafovea:
a depressed region of cuticle; in bees this depressed area is usually only very slightly hollow and usually on the face.
behind the
propodeal spiraclepropodeal spiracle:
the spiracle bordering the posterior margin of the propodeum
(
Niu et al. 2021Niu et al. 2021:
Niu, Z., Luo, A., Griswold, T., Zhu, C. 2021. Review of the bee genus Pseudoanthidium Friese, 1898 (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini) of China with descriptions of three new species. Zootaxa, 4996 (1): 133–152.).
Nesting behavior
Little is known about the nesting biology of
Pseudoanthidium xinjiangense but most species of
Pseudoanthidium nest in pre-existing cavities in wood, stems, galls, or crevices (
Litman et al. 2021Litman et al. 2021:
Litman, J. R., Fateryga, A. V., Griswold, T. L., Aubert, M., Proshchalykin, M. Y., Le Divelec, R., Burrows, S. & Praz, C. J. 2022. Paraphyly and low levels of genetic divergence in morphologically distinct taxa: revision of the Pseudoanthidium scapulare complex of carder bees (Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 195(4): 1287-1337.).
Known invasives
There are no known invasives
