Neglectella

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Neglectella Pasteels, 1965
Common name: none

Overview

Neglectella are large bees, often with black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
on their head, thorax, and abdomen and brown or reddish integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
on their antennae, mandibles, legs, and tegulategula:
the usually oval, small shield-like structure carried at the extreme base of the wing where it attaches to the body
(Pasteels 1965Pasteels 1965:
Pasteels, J.J. 1965. Revision des Megachilidae (Hymenoptera Apoidea) de lrsquo;Afrique Noire, 1. Les Genres Creightoniella [sic], Chalicodoma et Megachile (s. str.). Annales Musee Royal de lrsquo;Afrique Central [Tervuren], Sciences Zoologiques 8: 137 -579 pp.). The color of their pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
varies greatly, with different combinations of white, yellow, red, brown, and black hair (Pasteels 1965Pasteels 1965:
Pasteels, J.J. 1965. Revision des Megachilidae (Hymenoptera Apoidea) de lrsquo;Afrique Noire, 1. Les Genres Creightoniella [sic], Chalicodoma et Megachile (s. str.). Annales Musee Royal de lrsquo;Afrique Central [Tervuren], Sciences Zoologiques 8: 137 -579 pp.). Their body length ranges from 12–19 mm (Pasteels 1965Pasteels 1965:
Pasteels, J.J. 1965. Revision des Megachilidae (Hymenoptera Apoidea) de lrsquo;Afrique Noire, 1. Les Genres Creightoniella [sic], Chalicodoma et Megachile (s. str.). Annales Musee Royal de lrsquo;Afrique Central [Tervuren], Sciences Zoologiques 8: 137 -579 pp.). Neglectella was previously synonymized with Pseudomegachile, but was raised to genus level by Gonzalez et al. 2019Gonzalez et al. 2019:
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..

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Pasteels 1965Pasteels 1965:
Pasteels, J.J. 1965. Revision des Megachilidae (Hymenoptera Apoidea) de lrsquo;Afrique Noire, 1. Les Genres Creightoniella [sic], Chalicodoma et Megachile (s. str.). Annales Musee Royal de lrsquo;Afrique Central [Tervuren], Sciences Zoologiques 8: 137 -579 pp.)

• Preoccipital carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  present laterally.
• Female clypeusclypeus:
  a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
  with apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  edge straight or weakly 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
  five-toothed without cutting edges.
• Male front tarsitarsi:
  the group of segments at the end of the leg following the tibia
  can be either simple or distinctly expanded and excavated.
• Male mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  three-toothed, with or without a basalbasal:
  originating at the foundation of a structure
  projection on the lower margin.
• 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
  may be dentate or not dentate with a 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
  .
• 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
  with laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  teeth on the apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  margin.
• Male front coxacoxa:
  the basal segment of the leg
  with or without a spine.

May be confused with

Neglectella are very similar to the subgenus Pseudomegachile, with which they were previously synonymized (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). They both are highly variable and can overlap in many different characters depending on the species. Male Neglectella differ in the presence of laterallateral:
relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
teeth on the apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
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
. Female Neglectella can be differentiated from most Pseudomegachile by their five-toothed mandibles. Pseudomegachile louisae also has a five-toothed mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
, but they have a tuberculate supraclypeal areasupraclypeal area:
the region of the head between the antennal sockets and clypeus, demarcated on the sides by the subantennal sutures
that is not present in Neglectella species (Eardley 2012Eardley 2012:
Eardley C.A. 2012. Taxonomic revision of the southern African species of dauber bees in the genus Megachile Latreille (Apoidea: Megachilidae). Zootaxa: 3460(1): 1-65.).

Host associations

Floral associations are unknown.

Nesting behavior

Neglectella nest within pre-existing cavities, and have been observed nesting in Acacia wood (Michener 1968Michener 1968:
Michener, C.D. 1968. Nests of some African megachilid bees, with description of a new Hoplitis (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of the Society of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa 31: 337ndash;359.). These bees construct their nests using resin and sand (Gess and Roosenschoon 2017Gess and Roosenschoon 2017:
Gess, S.K. and P.A. Roosenschoon. 2017. Notes on the nesting of three species of Megachilinae in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, UAE. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 54: 43ndash;56.).

Diversity

Neglectella consists of 11 species (Pasteels 1965Pasteels 1965:
Pasteels, J.J. 1965. Revision des Megachilidae (Hymenoptera Apoidea) de lrsquo;Afrique Noire, 1. Les Genres Creightoniella [sic], Chalicodoma et Megachile (s. str.). Annales Musee Royal de lrsquo;Afrique Central [Tervuren], Sciences Zoologiques 8: 137 -579 pp.; 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.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Neglectella have been found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, from Liberia to Sudan and south to South Africa (Cockerell 1937Cockerell 1937:
Cockerell, T.D.A. 1937. African bees of the genera Ceratina , Halictus and Megachile . The Trustees of the British Museum: 1-254.; Pasteels 1965Pasteels 1965:
Pasteels, J.J. 1965. Revision des Megachilidae (Hymenoptera Apoidea) de lrsquo;Afrique Noire, 1. Les Genres Creightoniella [sic], Chalicodoma et Megachile (s. str.). Annales Musee Royal de lrsquo;Afrique Central [Tervuren], Sciences Zoologiques 8: 137 -579 pp.; Eardley 2012Eardley 2012:
Eardley C.A. 2012. Taxonomic revision of the southern African species of dauber bees in the genus Megachile Latreille (Apoidea: Megachilidae). Zootaxa: 3460(1): 1-65.).

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

References

Cockerell, T.D.A. 1937. African bees of the genera Ceratina, Halictus and Megachile. The Trustees of the British Museum: 1-254.

Eardley, C. 2012. A taxonomic revision of the southern African species of dauber bees in the genus Megachile Latreille (Apoidea: Megachilidae). Zootaxa 3460(1): 1-165.

Gess S.K. and P.A. Roosenschoon. 2017. Notes on the nesting of three species of Megachilinae in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, UAE. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 54: 43–56.

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.

Michener, C.D. 1968. Nests of some African megachilid bees, with description of a new Hoplitis (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa 31: 337-359.

Pasteels, J.J. 1965. Revision des Megachilidae (Hymenoptera Apoidea) de l’Afrique Noire, 1. Les Genres Creightoniella [sic], Chalicodoma et Megachile (s. str.). Annales Musee Royal de l’Afrique Central [Tervuren]. Sciences Zoologiques 8: 137 - 579 pp.

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.