Pseudoanthidium micronitens

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Pseudoanthidium, Friese 1898
Subgenus: Pseudoanthidium, Friese 1898
Species: Pseudoanthidium micronitens Pasteels, 1981

Background

Pseudoanthidium micronitens are relatively small bees, 4-5 mm in body length (Pasteels 1981Pasteels 1981:
Pasteels, J.J. 1981. Notes sur des Megachilidae d’Arabie et des regions desertiques limitrophes. Bull. Ann. Soc. R. Belge Ent. 117: 255-261.). They have predominantly black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
with symmetrical yellow spots on their 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 scutellumscutellum:
shield shaped plate behind scutum
, the size of the yellow portions varies within the species. Their legs are mostly orange and may be black or brown at the base. They have a thin coat of silvery pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
that covers most of their body.

Distribution

Pseudoanthidium micronitens is known from Saudi Arabia (Pasteels 1981Pasteels 1981:
Pasteels, J.J. 1981. Notes sur des Megachilidae d’Arabie et des regions desertiques limitrophes. Bull. Ann. Soc. R. Belge Ent. 117: 255-261.).

Host associations

Floral associations are unknown.

Nesting behavior

Little is known about the nesting biology of Pseudoanthidium micronitens but most species of Pseudoanthidium nest in pre-existing cavities like 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.