Megachile (Zonomegachile)

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Megachile Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Zonomegachile Titus, 1906
Common name: none

Overview

Megachile (Zonomegachile) are moderately-sized bees with white 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
on their abdomen, contrasting with their black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
. They can have white, tan, black, yellow, or reddish hair covering their body (Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.). They range in body length from 9–14 mm (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

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.; Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.)

• Preoccipital margin is carinatecarinate:
  having keels or carinae
  or sharply angled.
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  is four-toothed with large, incomplete cutting edges in the second and third interspaces.
• Female 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
  with apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  hairbands under scopascopa:
  modified hairs for carrying pollen; often branched and dense hairs on the hind-leg, or on the ventral surface of the abdomen in Megachilidae
  .
• Female T1–T5 with white 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
  .
• Male mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  is three-toothed without an inferior projection.
• Male hypostomalhypostomal:
  the notched region underneath the head and behind the mandible that holds the folded tongue
  area with an angular projection.
• Male front coxacoxa:
  the basal segment of the leg
  with a spine.
• Male front tarsustarsus:
  the group of segments at the end of the leg following the tibia
  is enlarged.
• 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
  with a strong median 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
  .

May be confused with

Male Megachile (Zonomegachile) may be confused with bees within the subgenus Megachile (Chrysosarus) as they both have a three-toothed mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
, an enlarged front tarsustarsus:
the group of segments at the end of the leg following the tibia
, a spine on the front coxacoxa:
the basal segment of the leg
, and 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
with a strong median 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
(Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Male Megachile (Zonomegachile) can be differentiated from Megachile (Chrysosarus) by the strong, angular hypostomalhypostomal:
the notched region underneath the head and behind the mandible that holds the folded tongue
projection behind the mandibularmandibular:
near the mandible
base (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Females can be differentiated by cutting edges between the mandibularmandibular:
near the mandible
teeth, which are large, although incomplete, in the second and third interspaces of Megachile (Zonomegachile) and absent or nearly absent in both interspaces in Megachile (Chrysosarus) (Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.).

Host associations

Megachile (Zonomegachile) have been observed collecting from flowers of Fabaceae (Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.).

Nesting behavior

Megachile (Zonomegachile) construct nests out of leaf pieces in pre-existing cavities (Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.).

Diversity

Megachile (Zonomegachile) consists of eight species; none are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada (Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Megachile (Zonomegachile) is a South American subgenus which has been observed in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, and Peru (Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.).

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References

Gonzalez, V.H., T.L. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile, with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 425: 73 pp.

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