Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Anthidiellum Cockerell, 1904
Subgenera: Ananthidiellum, Anthidiellum, Chloranthidiellum, Clypanthidium, Loyolanthidium, Pycnanthidium, Ranthidiellum
Common name: none
Anthidiellum is a widespread genus of stocky, robust bees, often with the scutellumscutellum:
shield shaped plate behind scutum
produced as broad, truncatetruncate:
ending abruptly, or squared off
lamellalamella:
thin, plate-like, often somewhat translucent structure
that overhangs the metanotummetanotum:
the posterior dorsal segment of the thorax, behind the scutellum
(Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). They are generally small bees that range in body length from 5–10 mm (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). They have black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
with varying amounts of yellow, orange, cream, or red maculations on their head, thorax, and abdomen (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).
Anthidiellum contains over 60 described species with multiple species being undescribed. Three species from 1 subgenus, A. (Loyolanthidium), are common in the U.S. (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).
(modified from Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.)
North American Anthidiellum can be distinguished from other pollen collecting anthidiines by the combination of aroliaarolia:
the cushion-like pad between the tarsal claws found at the ends of some bees' legs
present, distinctly arcuatearcuate:
curved like a bow
subantennal sutures, and the produced, truncatetruncate:
ending abruptly, or squared off
scutellumscutellum:
shield shaped plate behind scutum
that overhangs the metanotummetanotum:
the posterior dorsal segment of the thorax, behind the scutellum
(Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).
There are no known invasives.
Little is known about the floral resources utilized by Anthidiellum. The North American species appear to be generalists, but some species may prefer Asteraceae (Wilson and Carril 2016Wilson and Carril 2016:
Wilson, J.S. and O.M. Carril. 2016. The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North Americarsquo;s Bees. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, 288 pp.).
Anthidiellum are solitary bees that primarily build aerial nests on twigs, branches, and rocks out of resin (Schwarz 1928Schwarz 1928:
Schwarz, H.F. 1928. Bees of the subfamily Anthidiinae, including some new species and varieties, and some new locality records. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 36: 369ndash;419.; Grigarick and Stange 1968Grigarick and Stange 1968:
Grigarick, A.A. and L.A. Stange. 1968. Pollen collecting bees of the Anthidiini of California (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the California Insect Survey 9: 1ndash;113.; Soh et al. 2016Soh et al. 2016:
Soh, E.J.Y., Z.W.W. Soh, S.X. Chui, and J.S. Ascher. 2016. The bee tribe Anthidiini in Singapore (Anthophila: Megachilidae: Anthidiini) with notes on the regional fauna. Nature in Singapore 9: 49ndash;62.). Anthidiellum (Loyolanthidium) notatum has been observed building nests on crevices of palmetto fronds or hanging from pine needles (Schwarz 1928Schwarz 1928:
Schwarz, H.F. 1928. Bees of the subfamily Anthidiinae, including some new species and varieties, and some new locality records. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 36: 369ndash;419.). Anthidiellum (Pycnanthidium) smithii smithii has been observed in trap nests and line and cap nests. Nest partitions are comprised of resin and an unidentifiable “whitish gummy substance,” presumably a plant gum (Krombein and Norden 2001Krombein and Norden 2001:
Krombein, K.V. and B.B. Norden. 2001. Notes on trap-nesting Sri Lankan wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Pompilidae, Sphecidae, Colletidae, Megachilidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 103: 274ndash;281.). In contrast to building aerial nests, members of the subgenus Ranthidiellum excavate subterranean nests in soil. These nests are lined with resin (Pasteels 1972Pasteels 1972:
Pasteels, J.J. 1972. Reacute;vision des Anthidiinae (Hymenoptera Apoidea) de la reacute;gion Indo-malaise. Bulletin et Annuales de la socieacute;teacute; Royale Belge drsquo;Entomologie 108: 72ndash;128., Pasteels 1977Pasteels 1977:
Pasteels, J.J. 1977. Une revue comparative de lrsquo;eacute;thologie des Anthidiinae nidificateurs de lrsquo;ancien monde. Annales de la Socieacute;teacute; Entomologique de France 13: 651ndash;667.). Two North American Anthidiellum species, A. notatum and A. perplexum, mate where females are foraging on flowers (Turell 1976Turell 1976:
Turell, M.J. 1976. Observations on the mating behavior of Anthidiellum notatum and Anthidiellum perplexum . The Florida Entomologist 59: 55ndash;61.).
Anthidiellum has a global distribution being found on all continents except Antarctica. Many of the subgenera within Anthidiellum have distinct ranges (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).
Distribution map generated by Discover Life -- click on map for details, credits, and terms of use.
Grigarick, A.A. and L.A. Stange. 1968. The pollen-collecting bees of the Anthidiini of California. Bulletin of the Missouri Botanical Garden 86: 373-406.
Krombein, K.V. and B.B. Norden. 2001. Notes on trap-nesting Sri Lankan wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Pompilidae, Sphecidae, Colletidae, Megachilidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 103: 274-281.
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.
Pasteels, J.J. 1972. Révision des Anthidiinae (Hymenoptera Apoidea) de la région Indo-malaise. Bulletin et Annuales de la société Royale Belge d’Entomologie 108: 72–128.
Pasteels, J.J. 1977. Une revue comparative de l’éthologie des Anthidiinae nidificateurs de l’ancien monde. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 13: 651–667.
Schwarz, H.F. 1928. Bees of the subfamily Anthidiinae, including some new species and varieties, and some new locality records. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 36: 369-419.
Soh, E.J.Y., Z.W.W. Soh, S.X. Chui, and J.S. Ascher. 2016. The bee tribe Anthidiini in Singapore (Anthophila: Megachilidae: Anthidiini) with notes on the regional fauna. Nature in Singapore 9: 49-62.
Turell, M.J. 1976. Observations on the mating behavior of Anthidiellum notatum and Anthidiellum perplexum. The Florida Entomologist 59: 55-61
Wilson, J.S. and O.M. Carril. 2016. The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America’s Bees. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, 288 pp.