Taxonomy
Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Pseudoanthidium, Friese 1898
Subgenus: Pseudoanthidium, Friese 1898
Species: Pseudoanthidium ludingense (Wu, 1993)
Background
Pseudoanthidium ludingense are only known from male specimens and are relatively small, 6 – 7 mm bees that have 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
scutellumscutellum:
shield shaped plate behind scutum
. Their legs are mostly yellow to orange, with black possible at the base. They have overall yellow mandibles with four black teeth. They have a thin white
pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
that covers most of their body and have translucent, medium brown, wings (
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.).
Distribution
Pseudoanthidium ludingense 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.).
​Distribution map generated by Discover Life -- click on map for details, credits, and terms of use.
Host associations
Floral associations are unknown.
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.)
-
Mandibles with four teeth.
-
Paraocular paraocular:
the area extending along the sides of the face parallel to the eye
area with maculations extending to the level of the antennal sockets.
-
Terga terga:
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
with moderate-sized punctures.
May be confused with
The four-toothed mandibles of
Pseudoanthidium ludingense males make them easy to differentiate from other
P. (Pseudoanthidium) males.
Nesting behavior
Little is known about the nesting biology of
Pseudoanthidium ludingense 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.
