Lophanthedon

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Lophanthedon Gonzalez and Engel, 2012
Common name: none

Overview

Lophanthedon are black bees with reddish pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
. They range in body length from 12–15 mm (Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.). Previously considered a subgenus of Megachile, Lophanthedon was elevated to genus status by Gonzalez et al. (2019).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.)

• Female clypeusclypeus:
  a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
  with a median, longitudinal carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  and long, stiff setaesetae:
  a still hair-like structure or bristle
  .
• Female clypeusclypeus:
  a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
  apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  margin is crenulatecrenulate:
  having a finely scalloped or notched outline or edge
  .
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  is four-toothed, elongate, distally broad, and lacks a cutting edge.
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  outer surface is rough, shiny, and has a strong outer ridge.
• Female pronotal lobepronotal lobe:
  a part of the pronotum located dorsally on the posterior margin of the pronotum and overlaps the anterior thoracic spiracle
  carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  low.
• Female 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
  distaldistal:
  place on a segment that is furthest from the place of attachment with the body
  margin lamellatelamellate:
  thin, plate-like, often somewhat translucent structure
  .
• Male mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  is five-toothed and unmodified.
• Male fore coxacoxa:
  the basal segment of the leg
  are unmodified.
• Male tarsitarsi:
  the group of segments at the end of the leg following the tibia
  are unmodified.
• 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
  distaldistal:
  place on a segment that is furthest from the place of attachment with the body
  margin with a large median lobe and a small laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  lobe.
• 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
  preapicalpreapical:
  referring to a section of a bee that is physically found just before the outermost (or apical) end of the section or segment
  carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  is deeply, medially emarginateemarginate:
  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
  , forming two elongate, subrectangular projections.
• 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
  preapicalpreapical:
  referring to a section of a bee that is physically found just before the outermost (or apical) end of the section or segment
  carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  is unmodified.

May be confused with

Female Lophanthedon are likely to be confused with Pseudomegachile (Largella) due to the similar characteristics of the clypeusclypeus:
a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
, including the shape and longitudinal carinacarina:
a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
(Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.). Female Lophanthedon are also likely to be confused with Callomegachile due to the shiny and roughened mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
(Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.). Lophanthedon can be differentiated from Pseudomegachile (Largella) and Callomegachile based on the outer ridge of the mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
extending beyond the base of the mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
, the crenulatecrenulate:
having a finely scalloped or notched outline or edge
distal margin on the clypeusclypeus:
a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
, and the lamellatelamellate:
thin, plate-like, often somewhat translucent structure
distaldistal:
place on a segment that is furthest from the place of attachment with the body
margin 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
(Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.).

Host associations

Lophanthedon are known to visit flowers in the plant family Fabaceae (Karunaratne et al. 2005Karunaratne et al. 2005:
Karunaratne, W.A.I.P., J.P. Edirisinghe, and C.S. Gunatilleke. 2005. Floral relationships of bees in selected areas of Sri Lanka. Ceylon Journal of Science 34: 27-45.; Shankar et al. 2017Shankar et al. 2017:
Shankar, U., D.P. Abrol, and A.K. Singh. 2017. Plants for bees Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre. Journal of Palynology 53: 133-137.).

Nesting behavior

Although there is limited research available on Lophanthedon nesting biology, they are known to be stem-nesting bees and have been observed nesting in trap nests (Inoka et al. 2006Inoka et al. 2006:
Inoka, W.A., P. Karunaratne and J.P. Edirisinghe. 2006. Bee diversity in a semi-agricultural field - Sri Lanka. Biodiversity 6(4): 17-20.).

Diversity

Lophanthedon consists of five species, none of which are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada (Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.; Praz 2017Praz 2017:
Praz, C.J. 2017. Subgeneric classification and biology of the leafcutter and dauber bees (genus Megachile Latreille) of the western Palearctic (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 55: 1-54.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Lophanthedon are found in Southeast Asia (Ascher et al. 2016bAscher et al. 2016b:
Ascher, J.S., P. Heang, S. Kheam, K. Ly, S. Lorn, S.X. Chui, S. De Greef, G. Chartier, and S. Phauk. 2016. A report of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) of Cambodia. Cambodian Journal of Natural History 2016: 23-39.). They have been recorded in Borneo, Cambodia, southern China, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam (Bambaradeniya 2006Bambaradeniya 2006:
Bambaradeniya, C.N.B. (Editor). 2006. The Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy, Research, and Conservation. The World Conservation Union, Colombo, Sri Lanka amp; Government of Sri Lanka. viii + 308pp.; Ascher et al. 2016bAscher et al. 2016b:
Ascher, J.S., P. Heang, S. Kheam, K. Ly, S. Lorn, S.X. Chui, S. De Greef, G. Chartier, and S. Phauk. 2016. A report of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) of Cambodia. Cambodian Journal of Natural History 2016: 23-39.; Shankar et al. 2017Shankar et al. 2017:
Shankar, U., D.P. Abrol, and A.K. Singh. 2017. Plants for bees Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre. Journal of Palynology 53: 133-137.).

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

References

Ascher, J.S., P. Heang, S. Kheam, K. Ly, S. Lorn, S.X. Chui, S. De Greef, G. Chartier, and S. Phauk. 2016. A report of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) of Cambodia. Cambodian Journal of Natural History 2016: 23-39.

Bambaradeniya, C.N.B. (Editor). 2006. The Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy, Research, and Conservation. The World Conservation Union, Colombo, Sri Lanka & Government of Sri Lanka. viii + 308pp.

Gonzalez, V.H. and M.S. Engel. 2012. African and southeast Asian Chalicodoma (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae): new subgenus, new species, and notes on the composition of Pseudomegachile and Largella. Annales Zoologici 62: 599-617.

Gonzalez, V.H., G.T. Gustafson, and M.S. Engel. 2019. Morphological phylogeny of Megachilini and the evolution of leaf-cutter behavior in bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Journal of Melittology (85): 1-123.

Inoka, W.A., P. Karunaratne and J.P. Edirisinghe. 2006. Bee diversity in a semi-agricultural field - Sri Lanka. Biodiversity 6(4): 17-20.

Karunaratne, W.A.I.P., J. P. Edirisinghe, and C.S. Gunatilleke. 2005. Floral relationships of bees in selected areas of Sri Lanka. Ceylon Journal of Science 34: 27-45.

Praz, C.J. 2017. Subgeneric classification and biology of the leafcutter and dauber bees (genus Megachile Latreille) of the 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
(Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 55: 1-54.

Shankar, U., D.P. Abrol, and A.K. Singh. 2017. Plants for bees Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre. Journal of Palynology 53: 133-137.

Trunz, V., L. Packer, J. Vieu, N. Arrigo, and C.J. Praz. 2016. Comprehensive phylogeny, biogeography, and new classification of the diverse bee tribe Megachilini: Can we use DNA barcodes in phylogenies of large genera? Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 103: 245-259.