Megachile (Aethomegachile)

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Megachile Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Aethomegachile Baker and Engel, 2006
Common name: none

Overview

Megachile (Aethomegachile) are moderate sized bees with a body length of 7–13 mm (Engel and Baker 2006Engel and Baker 2006:
Engel, M.S. and D.B. Baker. 2006. A remarkable new leaf-cutter bee from Thailand (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Beitrage zur Entomologie 56: 69-74.; Ascher et al. 2016aAscher et al. 2016a:
Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2016(32): 33-55.). These bees have black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
with black, red, tan or white hair (Ascher et al. 2016aAscher et al. 2016a:
Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2016(32): 33-55.).

Host associations

Megachile (Aethomegachile) are known to visit flowers from the plant families Acanthaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Hypericaceae, Lamiaceae, Melastomataceae, Myrtaceae, Orchidaceae, Oxalidaceae, and Passifloraceae (Yong et al. 2019Yong et al. 2019:
Yong, G.W., Z.W. Soh, S.X. Chui, A.A. Chan, and J.S. Ascher. 2019. Insect visitors to flowers of cultivated Ardisia elliptica Thunb. (Myrsinaceae) and Memecylon caeruleum Jack (Melastomataceae) in Singapore. Nature in Singapore 12: 75ndash;80.; Ascher et al. 2016aAscher et al. 2016a:
Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2016(32): 33-55.; Udayakumar et al. 2019Udayakumar et al. 2019:
Udayakumar, A., T.M. Shivalingaswamy, V. Kumar, and M. Pratheepa. 2019. Pruned petioles of papaya as nesting sites of the leafcutting bee, Megachile laticeps Smith and its pollen fidelity. Journal of Apicultural Research (58)5: 660-664.).

Nesting behavior

Megachile (Aethomegachile) construct cylindrical nests, and build their nest cells with pieces of leaves (Maeta et al. 1997Maeta et al. 1997:
Maeta, Y., T. Yamaguchi, M. Goubara, and K. Goukon. 1997. The unusual nest of a leaf-cutting bee, Megachile igniscopata Cockerell from the Iriomote Island, southernmost Japan (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae). Insecta (昆蟲), 65(1): 1-6.). They have been observed nesting in soil, in decaying wood of trees, inside the hollow petioles of papaya, and even inside dry, fallen leaves (Katayama 1997Katayama 1997:
Katayama, E. 1997. Nesting biology of Japanese leaf-cutter bee, Megachile humilis Smith (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae). Japanese Journal of Applied Entomology and Zoology 41(3): 153-160.; Maeta et al. 1997Maeta et al. 1997:
Maeta, Y., T. Yamaguchi, M. Goubara, and K. Goukon. 1997. The unusual nest of a leaf-cutting bee, Megachile igniscopata Cockerell from the Iriomote Island, southernmost Japan (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae). Insecta (昆蟲), 65(1): 1-6.; Udayakumar et al. 2017Kumar et al. 2017:
Kumar, V., Griswold, T.L., & Belavadi V.V. 2017. The resin and carder bees of south India. Zootaxa. 4317(3): 436-468.; Udayakumar et al. 2019Udayakumar et al. 2019:
Udayakumar, A., T.M. Shivalingaswamy, V. Kumar, and M. Pratheepa. 2019. Pruned petioles of papaya as nesting sites of the leafcutting bee, Megachile laticeps Smith and its pollen fidelity. Journal of Apicultural Research (58)5: 660-664.).

Diversity

Megachile (Aethomegachile) consists of 17 species (Ascher et al. 2016aAscher et al. 2016a:
Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2016(32): 33-55.; Trunz et al. 2016Trunz et al. 2016:
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: 245ndash;259.). None are known to occur in North America, although they have been found in Hawaii and U.S. Pacific island territories (Ascher et al. 2016aAscher et al. 2016a:
Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2016(32): 33-55.).

Known invasives

No members of this subgenus are known to be invasive (Russo 2016Russo 2016:
Russo, L. 2016. Positive and negative impacts of non-native bee species around the world. Insects 7: 69.). However, Megachile laticeps, which is distributed on islands throughout the Indian and South Pacific Oceans, has potentially been introduced to Hawaii (Ascher et al. 2016aAscher et al. 2016a:
Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2016(32): 33-55.). A single specimen from 1983 was identified in 2016, but the species is not considered to be established (Ascher et al. 2016aAscher et al. 2016a:
Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2016(32): 33-55.).

Distribution

Megachile (Aethomegachile) are found predominantly in Asia, with some species found in Oceania. They range in distribution from India to Indonesia, north through China to southeastern Russia (Proshchalykin 2004Proshchalykin 2004:
Proshchalykin, M.Y. 2004. A check list of the bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) of the southern part of the Russian Far East. Far Eastern Entomologist 143: 1-17.; Ascher et al. 2016aAscher et al. 2016a:
Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2016(32): 33-55.). Additionally, they have been found on a number of islands in the Indian Ocean, such as Seychelles and the Maldives, and the North and South Pacific Oceans, including the U.S. state of Hawaii and the U.S. territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (Krombein 1950Krombein 1950:
Krombein, K.V. 1950. The Aculeate Hymenoptera of Micronesia II, Colletidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, and Apidae. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 14: 101ndash;142.; Ascher et al. 2016aAscher et al. 2016a:
Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2016(32): 33-55.). Three specimens (identified as Megachile laticeps) were collected in South Africa in 1897 and 1919 (Eardley and Ranwashe 2017Eardley and Ranwashe 2017:
Eardley C. and F. Ranwashe. 2017. ARC-PPRI: Collection of Southern African bees (1800-2007). Version 1.1. South African National Biodiversity Institute. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/itdvb2 accessed via GBIF.org on 2020-02-21.).

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References

Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 32: 33-55.

Eardley C. and F. Ranwashe. 2017. ARC-PPRI: Collection of Southern African bees (1800-2007). Version 1.1. South African National Biodiversity Institute. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/itdvb2 accessed via GBIF.org on 2020-02-21.

Engel, M.S. and D.B. Baker. 2006. A remarkable new leaf-cutter bee from Thailand (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Beitrage zur Entomologie 56: 69-74.

Gonzalez, V.H. 2008. Phylogeny and classification of the bee tribe Megachilini (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae), with emphasis on the genus Megachile. Thesis: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the College of Liberal Arts and Science of the University of Kansas: 1-274.

Katayama, E. 1997. Nesting biology of Japanese leaf-cutter bee, Megachile humilis Smith (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae). Japanese Journal of Applied Entomology and Zoology 41(3): 153-160.

Krombein, K.V. 1950. The Aculeate Hymenoptera of Micronesia II. Colletidae, Halcitidae, Megachilidae, and Apidae. Proceedings, Hawaiian Entomology Society 14(1): 101-142.

Maeta, Y., T. Yamaguchi, M. Goubara, and K. Goukon. 1997. The unusual nest of a leaf-cutting bee, Megachile igniscopata Cockerell from the Iriomote Island, southernmost Japan (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae). Insecta (昆蟲), 65(1): 1-6.

Proshchalykin, M.Y. 2004. A check list of the bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) of the southern part of the Russian Far East. Far Eastern Entomologist 143: 1-17.

Russo, L. 2016. Positive and negative impacts of non-native bee species around the world. Insects 7(4): 69.

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

Udayakumar, A., T.M. Shivalingaswamy, and V. Kumar. 2017. An unusual nesting site by leaf cutter bee Megachile (Aethomegachile) laticeps Smith. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 90: 77-81.

Udayakumar, A., T.M. Shivalingaswamy, V. Kumar, and M. Pratheepa. 2019. Pruned petioles of papaya as nesting sites of the leafcutting bee, Megachile laticeps Smith and its pollen fidelity. Journal of Apicultural Research (58)5: 660-664.