Osmia apicata

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Osmiini
Genus: Osmia Panzer, 1806
Subgenus: O. (Osmia) Panzer, 1806
Species: Osmia apicata Smith, 1853
Common name: none

Overview

Osmia (Osmia) apicata are black bees with a slight metallic blue hue. O. apicata have white or light brown hair on the head and thorax, often with intermixed black hairs, T1–T3 are covered with orange-yellow hairs, and T4–T6 are predominantly black (Peters 1978Peters 1978:
Peters, D.S. 1978. Systematik und Zoogeographie der west-palauml;arktischen Arten von Osmia Panzer, 1806 s. str., Monosmia Tkalcu, 1974 und Orientosmia n. subgen. (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica (Frankfurt) 58: 287ndash;346.). O. apicata have long mouthparts that are nearly as long as the body length when fully extended and reaching beyond their thorax when fully retracted (Gogala and Surina 2011Gogala and Surina 2011:
Gogala, A., B, Surina. 2011. Foraging behaviour of the bee Osmia apicata Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Acta entomologica Slovenica 19: 139ndash;144.). O. apicata feed upside down to facilitate pollen extraction; this technique allows pollen to fall from Onosma flowers which their bodies would otherwise not be able to extract, owing to the narrow corolla of Onosma (Gogala and Surina 2011Gogala and Surina 2011:
Gogala, A., B, Surina. 2011. Foraging behaviour of the bee Osmia apicata Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Acta entomologica Slovenica 19: 139ndash;144.). O. apicata females are 12–12.5 mm in length, and males 10.5–12 mm in length (Gogala and Surina 2011Gogala and Surina 2011:
Gogala, A., B, Surina. 2011. Foraging behaviour of the bee Osmia apicata Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Acta entomologica Slovenica 19: 139ndash;144.).

Diagnostic characteristics 

(modified from Peters 1978Peters 1978:
Peters, D.S. 1978. Systematik und Zoogeographie der west-palauml;arktischen Arten von Osmia Panzer, 1806 s. str., Monosmia Tkalcu, 1974 und Orientosmia n. subgen. (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica (Frankfurt) 58: 287ndash;346.)

• Front tibiatibia:
  the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
  with two apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  spines. This spine can be more difficult to see in the males than in females.
• Mouthparts long, nearly as long as the entire body when extended and reaching past the thorax in repose.
• Strigilis strigilis:
  an organ for cleaning the antennae on the first tarsal joint of a bee's foreleg
  with an apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  spine
• 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
  without apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  hair bandsbands:
  usually referring to bands of hair or bands of color that traverse across an abdominal segment
  .
• Female clypeusclypeus:
  a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
  simple, without median or laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  projections.

May be confused with 

Osmia apicata is morphologically similar and closely related to O. maxillaris. Both have mouthparts that are as long as their body length when extended (Müller 2012). O. apicata can be differentiated from O. maxillaris by the two apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
spines of the front tibiatibia:
the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
. O. maxillaris also lacks a median hair-filled emarginationemargination:
a notched or cut out place in an edge or margin, can be dramatic or simply a subtle inward departure from the general curve or line of the margin or structure being described
on 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
.

Phenology

Osmia apicata adults have been recorded in flight from April to mid-June (Peters 1978Peters 1978:
Peters, D.S. 1978. Systematik und Zoogeographie der west-palauml;arktischen Arten von Osmia Panzer, 1806 s. str., Monosmia Tkalcu, 1974 und Orientosmia n. subgen. (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica (Frankfurt) 58: 287ndash;346.).

Host associations 

Osmia apicata are oligolecticoligolectic:
the term used to describe bees that specialize on a narrow range of pollen sources, generally a specific plant genus
and have been associated with Onosma, a member of the Boraginaceae family (Teppner 1996Teppner 1996:
Teppner, H. 1996. Bluuml;ten und Bluuml;tenbesucher bei Onosma (Boraginaceaendash;Lithospermeae). Feddes Repertorium 106 (5ndash;8): 525ndash;532.; Haider et al. 2013Haider et al. 2013:
Haider, M. S. Dorn, C. Sedivy, A. Muuml;ller. 2013. Phylogeny and floral hosts of a predominantly pollen generalist group of mason bees (Megachilidae: Osmiini). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 111: 78ndash;91.).

Nesting behavior 

Osmia apicata nests in preexisting cavities and crevices in stone walls (Ducke 1900Ducke 1900:
Ducke, A. 1900. Die Bienengattung Osmia Panz. Ber. naturw.-med. Ver. Innsbruck 25: 1ndash;323.; Graeffe 1902Graeffe 1902:
Graeffe, E. 1902. Die Apiden-Fauna des ouml;sterreichischen Kuuml;stenlandes. Verh. k. k. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, 52: 113ndash;135.). Osmia apicata are known to nest in limestone bedrock and are strongly associated with karst topography (Gogala and Surina 2011Gogala and Surina 2011:
Gogala, A., B, Surina. 2011. Foraging behaviour of the bee Osmia apicata Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Acta entomologica Slovenica 19: 139ndash;144.).

Distribution

Osmia apicata specimens have been recorded in the eastern Mediterranean in Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Turkey, and Israel (Peters 1978Peters 1978:
Peters, D.S. 1978. Systematik und Zoogeographie der west-palauml;arktischen Arten von Osmia Panzer, 1806 s. str., Monosmia Tkalcu, 1974 und Orientosmia n. subgen. (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica (Frankfurt) 58: 287ndash;346.; Ungricht et al. 2008Ungricht et al. 2008:
Ungricht, S., Muuml;ller, A. and Dorn, S. 2008. A taxonomic catalogue of the Palaearctic bees of the tribe Osmiini (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Zootaxa 1865: 1ndash;253.).

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References