Anthidium cochimi

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Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Anthidium Fabricius, 1804
Subgenus: A. (Anthidium) Fabricius, 1804
Species: Anthidium cochimi Snelling, 1992
Common name: none

Overview

Anthidium (Anthidium) cochimi are dark brown to black with yellow or cream-colored maculations (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013). Females have white pubescence except for limited yellow to brown hairs on the vertex, scutum, axilla, scutellum, inner tarsi, and S6. Females range in body length from 9.5–13.2 mm (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013). Males have pale pubescence on the vertex, scutum, and scutellum, and range in body length from 15–17.7 mm (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Gonzalez and Griswold 2013)

• Female clypeus has a slightly convex distal margin and low sublateral tubercles.
• Female labrum has distinct basal protuberance and lacks preapical projections.
• Female mandible has 7–8 teeth.
• Female propodeal triangle is dull.
• Female hind tibia with anterior carina present.
• Female T1–T5 discal areas are elevated, and the areas between the punctures are dull and imbricate.
• Female T6 with slightly crenulate preapical carina and lateral spines.
• Male labrum with basal protuberances.
• Male S4 lacks a median apical brush and has a straight distal margin.
• Male S6 distal margin has a downcurved median spine.
• Male S7 is rounded.
• Male S8 has a short median apical process that is angled laterally.
• Male T6 lateral spine is curved and longer than the T7 median spine.
• Male T7 lateral lobe is subtriangular.

May be confused with

Female A. cochimi may be confused with A. maculifrons due to the presence of T1–T5 with elevated discal areas, and T6 with crenulate preapical carina and small, lateral projections (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013). Female A. cochimi can be differentiated from A. maculifrons by its clypeus with a slightly convex distal margin and low sublateral tubercles (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013). Additionally, A. cochimi has hooked apical hairs on the disc of the clypeus and distal half of the supraclypeal area, while A. maculifrons has normal hairs (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013). Male A. cochimi can be differentiated from all other Anthidium by the subtriangular shaped lateral lobe on T7 (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013).

Phenology

Anthidium cochimi adults have been recorded in flight from March to June and from late September to early November (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013).

Host associations

Anthidium cochimi is a generalist that has been observed visiting a variety of species within Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Zygophyllaceae (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013).

Nesting behavior

Anthidium cochimi may nest in the abandoned nests of Diadasia (Apidae) (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013).

Distribution

Anthidium cochimi occur throughout southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, and Texas within the U.S. (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013; Discover Life 2018). In Mexico, they are found in Baja California Sur, Baja California, Sonora, Durango, Coahuila, and Guanajuato. They are native to Baja California, the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, the Gulf of California, and San Lucan xeric scrub landscapes (Gonzalez and Griswold 2013).

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