Anthidium oblongatum

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Anthidium Fabricius, 1804
Subgenus: A. (Proanthidium) Friese, 1898
Species: Anthidium oblongatum (Illiger, 1806)
Common name: none

Overview

Anthidium (Proanthidium) oblongatum are black bees with yellow markings (Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999:
Hoebeke, E.R. and A.G. Wheeler, Jr. 1999. Anthidium oblongatum (Illiger): an old world bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) new to North America, and new North America records for another adventive species, A. manicatum (L.). The University of Kansas Natural History Museum Special Publication 24: 21ndash;24.; Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Males and females range in body length from 8–11 mm (Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999:
Hoebeke, E.R. and A.G. Wheeler, Jr. 1999. Anthidium oblongatum (Illiger): an old world bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) new to North America, and new North America records for another adventive species, A. manicatum (L.). The University of Kansas Natural History Museum Special Publication 24: 21ndash;24.). Anthidium oblongatum is a non-native species in the U.S. and Canada.

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999:
Hoebeke, E.R. and A.G. Wheeler, Jr. 1999. Anthidium oblongatum (Illiger): an old world bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) new to North America, and new North America records for another adventive species, A. manicatum (L.). The University of Kansas Natural History Museum Special Publication 24: 21ndash;24.; Miller et al. 2002Miller et al. 2002:
Miller, S.R., R. Gaebel, R.J. Mitchell, and M. Arduser. 2002. Occurrence of two species of old world bees, Anthidium manicatum and A. oblongatum (Apoidea: Megachilidae), in Northern Ohio and Southern Michigan. The Michigan Entomology Society 35: 65ndash;69.)

• Pronotal lobe pronotal lobe:
  a part of the pronotum located dorsally on the posterior margin of the pronotum and overlaps the anterior thoracic spiracle
  lamellatelamellate:
  thin, plate-like, often somewhat translucent structure
  .
• Scutellum scutellum:
  shield shaped plate behind scutum
  has small laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  teeth.
• Female basalbasal:
  originating at the foundation of a structure
  mandibular tooth noticeably larger than the apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  mandibular tooth.
• Female mandibles with 9–12 teeth.
• Male 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
  apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  margin is projected medially.
• Male T7T7:
  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
  is bilobed.

May be confused with

Anthidium oblongatum can easily be distinguished from all other Anthidium (s. str.) species in the U.S. by its lamellatelamellate:
thin, plate-like, often somewhat translucent structure
pronotal lobe and scutellumscutellum:
shield shaped plate behind scutum
. Females can be distinguished by the medially concave margin of 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
and large number of mandibularmandibular:
near the mandible
teeth (9–12 teeth). Males can be readily identified by the median apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
projection 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
and the bilobed T7T7:
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
(Gonzalez and Griswold 2013Gonzalez and Griswold 2013:
Gonzalez, V.H. and T.L. Griswold. 2013. Wool carder bees of the genus Anthidium in the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae): diversity, host plant associations, phylogeny, and biogeography. Zoological Journal 168: 221ndash;425.).

Phenology

Anthidium oblongatum adults have been recorded in flight from May to September, with peak activity occurring from June to August (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013Gonzalez and Griswold 2013:
Gonzalez, V.H. and T.L. Griswold. 2013. Wool carder bees of the genus Anthidium in the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae): diversity, host plant associations, phylogeny, and biogeography. Zoological Journal 168: 221ndash;425.).

Host associations

Anthidium oblongatum is associated with xerophilic vegetation (Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999:
Hoebeke, E.R. and A.G. Wheeler, Jr. 1999. Anthidium oblongatum (Illiger): an old world bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) new to North America, and new North America records for another adventive species, A. manicatum (L.). The University of Kansas Natural History Museum Special Publication 24: 21ndash;24.), and is a generalist that has been observed collecting pollen and nectar from Crassulaceae, Fabaceae, Scrophulariaceae, and Resedaceae (Westrich 1990Westrich 1990:
Westrich, P. 1990. Die Wildbienen Baden-Wurttembergs. Spezieller Teil: Die Gattungen und Arten. Verlag Eugen Ulmer. Pp. 437ndash;972.; Maier 2009Maier 2009:
Maier, C.T. 2009. New distributional records of three species of Megachilidae (Hymenoptera) from Connecticut and nearby states. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 111: 775ndash;784.). It appears to favor pollen from Lotus corniculatus, Onobrychis viciaefolia, and Sedum reflexum (Westrich 1990Westrich 1990:
Westrich, P. 1990. Die Wildbienen Baden-Wurttembergs. Spezieller Teil: Die Gattungen und Arten. Verlag Eugen Ulmer. Pp. 437ndash;972.; Müller 1996). Additionally, A. oblongatum have been observed collecting from the flowers of various weeds in urban restoration sites and landfills (Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999:
Hoebeke, E.R. and A.G. Wheeler, Jr. 1999. Anthidium oblongatum (Illiger): an old world bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) new to North America, and new North America records for another adventive species, A. manicatum (L.). The University of Kansas Natural History Museum Special Publication 24: 21ndash;24.). In the U.S., A. oblongatum can often be found visiting Senecio cineraria (Miller et al. 2002Miller et al. 2002:
Miller, S.R., R. Gaebel, R.J. Mitchell, and M. Arduser. 2002. Occurrence of two species of old world bees, Anthidium manicatum and A. oblongatum (Apoidea: Megachilidae), in Northern Ohio and Southern Michigan. The Michigan Entomology Society 35: 65ndash;69.).

Nesting behavior

Anthidium oblongatum nests in dry, warm habitats (Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999:
Hoebeke, E.R. and A.G. Wheeler, Jr. 1999. Anthidium oblongatum (Illiger): an old world bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) new to North America, and new North America records for another adventive species, A. manicatum (L.). The University of Kansas Natural History Museum Special Publication 24: 21ndash;24.). Nests are constructed in hollowed out cavities in soils, bricks, stonewalls, railroad embankments, weathering slopes, and rocks as well as in excavated thistle and Umbelliferae stems (Westrich 1990Westrich 1990:
Westrich, P. 1990. Die Wildbienen Baden-Wurttembergs. Spezieller Teil: Die Gattungen und Arten. Verlag Eugen Ulmer. Pp. 437ndash;972.; O’Brien et al. 2012; Onuferko et al. 2015Onuferko et al. 2015:
Onuferko, T.M., R. Kutby, and M.H. Richards. 2015. A list of bee species (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) recorded from three municipalities in the Niagara region of Ontario, including a new record of Lasioglossum furunculum Gibbs (Halictidae) in Canada. JESO 146: 3ndash;22.). Anthidium oblongatum typically use the hairs from Stachys germanica and S. byzantina (Lamiaceae), Verbascum (Scrophulariaceae), and Helichrysum and Echinops ritro (Asteraceae) as nesting materials (Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999:
Hoebeke, E.R. and A.G. Wheeler, Jr. 1999. Anthidium oblongatum (Illiger): an old world bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) new to North America, and new North America records for another adventive species, A. manicatum (L.). The University of Kansas Natural History Museum Special Publication 24: 21ndash;24.). Each nest has up to eight cells (Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999:
Hoebeke, E.R. and A.G. Wheeler, Jr. 1999. Anthidium oblongatum (Illiger): an old world bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) new to North America, and new North America records for another adventive species, A. manicatum (L.). The University of Kansas Natural History Museum Special Publication 24: 21ndash;24.).

This species is of special interest because it is both invasive, and the first species of Anthidium to be documented entering the nest of another bee, Bombus impatiens (Graham 2018Graham 2018:
Graham, K.K. 2018. Heterospecific Hymenoptera found inside the nests of Bombus impatiens (Hymenoptera: Apidae). The Great Lakes Entomologist 51: 1ndash;4.). The night temperatures leading up to the discovery of A. oblongatum in the nest of B. impatiens were uncharacteristically low, so it is possible that the A. oblongatum were attempting to find a warm place to reside at night (Graham 2018Graham 2018:
Graham, K.K. 2018. Heterospecific Hymenoptera found inside the nests of Bombus impatiens (Hymenoptera: Apidae). The Great Lakes Entomologist 51: 1ndash;4.). However, if A. oblongatum were inside the hive in order to rob resources, this could cause a negative impact on the native bee population. More research is needed in order to determine the motivation behind the nest intrusion (Graham 2018Graham 2018:
Graham, K.K. 2018. Heterospecific Hymenoptera found inside the nests of Bombus impatiens (Hymenoptera: Apidae). The Great Lakes Entomologist 51: 1ndash;4.).

Distribution

Anthidium oblongatum occur throughout most of southern and temperate Europe, and was accidentally introduced to the U.S. in the 1990s (Russo 2016Russo 2016:
Russo, L. 2016. Positive and negative impacts of non-native bee species around the world. Insects 7: 69.). They have since spread throughout the eastern and midwestern part of the U.S. in Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Connecticut, and southern Canada (Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999Hoebeke and Wheeler 1999:
Hoebeke, E.R. and A.G. Wheeler, Jr. 1999. Anthidium oblongatum (Illiger): an old world bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) new to North America, and new North America records for another adventive species, A. manicatum (L.). The University of Kansas Natural History Museum Special Publication 24: 21ndash;24.; Miller et al. 2002Miller et al. 2002:
Miller, S.R., R. Gaebel, R.J. Mitchell, and M. Arduser. 2002. Occurrence of two species of old world bees, Anthidium manicatum and A. oblongatum (Apoidea: Megachilidae), in Northern Ohio and Southern Michigan. The Michigan Entomology Society 35: 65ndash;69.; Romankova 2003Romankova 2003:
Romankova, T. 2003. Ontario nest-building bees of the tribe Anthidiini (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae). Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario 134: 85ndash;89.; Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.; Maier 2009Maier 2009:
Maier, C.T. 2009. New distributional records of three species of Megachilidae (Hymenoptera) from Connecticut and nearby states. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 111: 775ndash;784.; Tonietto and Ascher 2009Tonietto and Ascher 2009:
Tonietto, R.K. and J.S. Ascher. 2009. Occurrence of the old world bee species Hylaeus hyalinatus , Anthidium manicatum , A. oblongatum , and Megachilidae sculpturalis , and the native species Coelioxys banksi, Lasioglossum michiganense, and L. zophops in Illinois (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Colletidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae). The Great Lakes Entomologist 41: 200ndash;203.).

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References

Gonzalez, V.H. and T.L. Griswold. 2013. Wool carder bees of the genus Anthidium in the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae): diversity, host plant associations, phylogeny, and biogeography. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 168: 221-425.

Graham, K.K. 2018. Heterospecific Hymenoptera found inside the nests of Bombus impatiens (Hymenoptera: Apidae). The Great Lakes Entomologist 51: 1-4.

Hoebeke, E.R. and A.G. Wheeler, Jr. 1999. Anthidium oblongatum (Illiger): an old worldOld World:
the part of the world that was known before the discovery of the Americas, comprised of Europe, Asia, and Africa; the Eastern Hemisphere
bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) new to North America, and new North America records for another adventive species, A. manicatum(L.). The University of Kansas Natural History Museum Special Publication 24: 21-24.

Maier, C.T. 2009. New distributional records of three species of Megachilidae (Hymenoptera) from Connecticut and nearby states. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 111: 775-784.

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

Miller, S.R., R. Gaebel, R.J. Mitchell, and M. Arduser. 2002. Occurrence of two species of old worldOld World:
the part of the world that was known before the discovery of the Americas, comprised of Europe, Asia, and Africa; the Eastern Hemisphere
bees, Anthidium manicatum and A. oblongatum (Apoidea: Megachilidae), in northern Ohio and southern Michigan. The Great Lakes Entomologist 35: 65-69.

Muller, A. 1996. Host plant specialization in western PalearcticPalearctic:
the largest biogeographic region; consists of Europe, Asia north of the Himalaya foothills, Northern Africa, and the northern and central parts of the Arabian Peninsula
anthidiine bees. Ecological Monographs 66: 235-257.

O’Brien, M.F., D.R. Swanson, and J. Monsma. 2012. Anthidium oblongatum (Apoidea: Megachilidae) confirmed as a Michigan resident, with notes on other Michigan Anthidium species. The Great Lakes Entomologist 45: 102-105.

Onuferko, T.M., R. Kutby, and M.H. Richards. 2015. A list of bee species (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) recorded from three municipalities in the Niagara region of Ontario, including a new record of Lasioglossum furunculum Gibbs (Halictidae) in Canada. JESO 146: 3-22.

Romankova, T. 2003. Ontario nest-building bees of the tribe Anthidiini (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae). Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario 134: 85-89.

Russo, L. 2016. Positive and negative impacts of non-native bee species around the world. Insects 7: 69.

Tonietto, R.K. and J.S. Ascher. 2009. Occurrence of the old worldOld World:
the part of the world that was known before the discovery of the Americas, comprised of Europe, Asia, and Africa; the Eastern Hemisphere
bee species Hylaeus hyalinatus, Anthidium manicatum, A. oblongatum, and Megachilidae sculpturalis, and the native species Coelioxys banksi, Lasioglossum michiganense, and L. zophops in Illinois (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Colletidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae). The Great Lakes Entomologist 41: 200-203.

Westrich, P. 1990. Die Wildbienen Baden-Wurttembergs. Spezieller Teil: Die Gattungen und Arten. Verlag Eugen Ulmer. Pp. 437-972.