Lithurgopsis

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Lithurginae
Tribe: Lithurgini
Genus: Lithurgopsis Fox, 1902
Subgenera: none
Common name: none

Overview

Lithurgopsis have a robust, rounded body form (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). They range in body length from 7.5–20 mm. They are dull black, often with pale bandsbands:
usually referring to bands of hair or bands of color that traverse across an abdominal segment
of hair on the 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 sternasterna:
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
(Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Females often have lobes or horns on their supraclypeal areasupraclypeal area:
the region of the head between the antennal sockets and clypeus, demarcated on the sides by the subantennal sutures
underneath the antennae and dense ventralventral:
of, on, or relating to the underside of an animal, or segment of an animal
scopae. Lithurgopsis was previously a subgenus of Lithurgus (Gonzalez et al. 2013Gonzalez et al. 2013:
Gonzalez, V.H., M.S. Engel, and T. Griswold. 2013. The lithurgine bees of Australia (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), with a note on Megachile rotundipennis . Journal of Melittology 11: 1ndash;19.).

Diversity

Lithurgopsis contains 9 species worldwide; 7 species occur in North America north of Mexico, and 3 species occur in Argentina (Snelling 1983Snelling 1983:
Snelling, R.R. 1983. The North American species of the bee genus Lithurge (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Contributions to Science: Serial Publication of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 343: 1ndash;11., 1986; Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.; Gonzalez et al. 2013Gonzalez et al. 2013:
Gonzalez, V.H., M.S. Engel, and T. Griswold. 2013. The lithurgine bees of Australia (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), with a note on Megachile rotundipennis . Journal of Melittology 11: 1ndash;19.).

Diagnostic characteristics

(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. unless otherwise stated)

• Arolia present in males and absent in females.
• Hind tibiatibia:
  the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
  with course tubercles that do not end in bristles.
• Hind tibial spurtibial spur:
  apical projection(s) often found at the apex of the tibia
  stout and strongly bent apicallyapically:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  (Gonzalez et al. 2013Gonzalez et al. 2013:
  Gonzalez, V.H., M.S. Engel, and T. Griswold. 2013. The lithurgine bees of Australia (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), with a note on Megachile rotundipennis . Journal of Melittology 11: 1ndash;19.).
• First flagellomereflagellomere:
  any segment of the antenna past the scape and pedicel
  short, not or a little longer than broad, and nearly as long as second segment, which is as broad as long or longer.
• Male metabasitarsusmetabasitarsus:
  the basitarsi on the hind legs
  without distinct projections or protuberanceprotuberance:
  rising or produced above the surface or the general level of a feature
  (present in Austrothurgus) (Gonzalez et al. 2013Gonzalez et al. 2013:
  Gonzalez, V.H., M.S. Engel, and T. Griswold. 2013. The lithurgine bees of Australia (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), with a note on Megachile rotundipennis . Journal of Melittology 11: 1ndash;19.).
• Male pygidial platepygidial plate:
  unusually flat area (a plate) surrounded by a ridge or line and sometimes sticking well off of the end of the bee; if present, found on the sixth upper abdominal segment in females, seventh in males
  present.
• Female with apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  process or spine on T6T6:
  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
  .
• Female facial prominence entirely supraclypeal (absent in one species).

May be confused with

Lithurgopsis looks similar to some Megachile, Austrothurgus, and Lithurgus, but can be distinguished by the characters listed above.

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Host associations

In the U.S., Lithurgopsis spp. are primarily specialists on Cactaceae, including Opuntia spp. and Echinocactus spp., and may serve a very important role in their pollination (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.). This host limitation may limit Lithurgopsis to xericxeric:
a very dry habitat
regions.

Nesting behavior

Lithurgopsis spp. are solitary, although sometimes gregarious, wood-boring bees that excavate their own cavities within the wood (Rozen and Hall 2014Rozen and Hall 2014:
Rozen Jr., J.G. and H.G. Hall. 2014. Nest site selection and nesting behavior of the bee Lithurgopsis apicalis (Megachilidae: Lithurginae). American Museum Novitates 3796: 1ndash;24.). Dead rotting wood as well as firm nondegraded wood, woody stems such as Agave stalks, and occasionally man-made wood structures or wood-based materials are used (Rozen and Hall 2014Rozen and Hall 2014:
Rozen Jr., J.G. and H.G. Hall. 2014. Nest site selection and nesting behavior of the bee Lithurgopsis apicalis (Megachilidae: Lithurginae). American Museum Novitates 3796: 1ndash;24.). Their habit of burrowing into standing wooden structures can be particularly damaging over time. Their nesting habits can be peculiar compared to other megachilid bees. They typically do not line nests, but L. apicalis will occasionally lacquer the nest entrance with nectar (Rust et al. 2004Rust et al. 2004:
Rust, R.W., G. Camon, J.T. Grossa, and B.E. Vaissiegrave;re. 2004. Nesting biology and foraging ecology of the wood-boring bee Lithurgus chrysurus (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 77: 269ndash;279.). One elongated chamber, or branch, may contain multiple provisions with brood contained one after another in a linear series (Rozen and Hall 2014Rozen and Hall 2014:
Rozen Jr., J.G. and H.G. Hall. 2014. Nest site selection and nesting behavior of the bee Lithurgopsis apicalis (Megachilidae: Lithurginae). American Museum Novitates 3796: 1ndash;24.). Wood particles are sometimes used to partition the nest chamber into multiple separate cells (Rozen and Hall 2014Rozen and Hall 2014:
Rozen Jr., J.G. and H.G. Hall. 2014. Nest site selection and nesting behavior of the bee Lithurgopsis apicalis (Megachilidae: Lithurginae). American Museum Novitates 3796: 1ndash;24.).

Distribution

Lithurgopsis occurs only in the Western Hemisphere, usually in warm temperate or tropic areas. In the U.S., it occupies the dry areas of the southern and western U.S., and is rare or absent in the northeastern 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.).

​Distribution map generated by Discover Life -- click on map for details, credits, and terms of use.

References

Gonzalez, V.H., M.S. Engel. And T.L. Griswold. 2013. The lithurgine bees of Australia (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), with a note on Megachile rotundipennis. Journal of Melittology 11: 1-19.

Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.

Rozen Jr., J.G. and H.G. Hall. 2014. Nest site selection and nesting behavior of the bee Lithurgopsis apicalis (Megachilidae: Lithurginae). American Museum Novitates 3796:1-24.

Snelling, R.R. 1986. The taxonomic status of two North American Lithurge (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 851:29-34.

Snelling, R.R. 1983. The North American species of the bee genus Lithurge (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Contributions to Science: Serial Publication of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 343:1-11.

Rust, R.W., G. Camon, J.T. Grossa, and B.E. Vaissière. 2004. Nesting biology and foraging ecology of the wood-boring bee Lithurgus chrysurus (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 77: 269–279.

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.