Pseudoanthidium orientale

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Pseudoanthidium, Friese 1898
Subgenus: Pseudoanthidium, Friese 1898
Species: Pseudoanthidium orientale (Bingham, 1897)

Background

Pseudoanthidium orientale are relatively small, 5.5 – 6 mm bees. They have predominantly black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
with symmetrical dark yellow to dark orange 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 primarily yellow to dark orange with black markings that can span the entire length of the leg. Males tend to have mostly black mandibles with yellow patches on the outer edge, and a brighter yellow face than the females. Females tend to have mostly black mandibles with yellow to orange patches on the outer edge. Females have varying numbers of mandibularmandibular:
near the mandible
teeth, ranging from 5 to 6. Both male and female specimens have white to yellow pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
that covers most of their bodies. Their wings are a translucent yellow-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.).

Distribution

Pseudoanthidium orientale is known from China, Burma, India, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand (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 orientale seems to prefer plants in the Asteraceae family and has been found visiting a number of genera in that family including: Blumea, Eupatoreae, Helianthus, and Tridex (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.). It has also been reported visiting the Fabaceae species Tephrosia hamiltoni (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.)

• Paraocular paraocular:
  the area extending along the sides of the face parallel to the eye
  area maculatedmaculated:
  spotted or made up of several marks
  nearly to the top of the eye.

• Clypeus clypeus:
  a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
  entirely yellow.

• Propodeum propodeum:
  the last segment of the thorax
  without 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
  .

• Female mandibles with 5 or 6 teeth.

• Male mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  with 3 teeth.

• Male S3S3:
  the plates on the underside of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, or S8
  with apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  margin strongly convexconvex:
  curved outward
  .

• Male S5S5:
  the plates on the underside of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, or S8
  with somewhat wide laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  combs.

• Male gonostylusgonostylus:
  the apical-most appendage of the male genitalia, which is usually quite hairy
  apicallyapically:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  rounded, not notched.

Nesting behavior

Little is known about the nesting biology of Pseudoanthidium orientale 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.