Osmia nigrohirta

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Osmiini
Genus: Osmia Panzer, 1806
Subgenus: O. (Osmia) Panzer, 1806
Species: Osmia nigrohirta Friese, 1899
Common name: none

Overview

Osmia (Osmia) nigrohirta are black bees with a little to no metallic shimmer on the abdomen. Females have black hair throughout their body with the exception of occasional reddish-brown hairs on the basitarsi and sometimes brown hair on T6 (Peters 1978). Males have yellow to white hair on their head, brownish hair on the thorax, T1–T3 have yellowish-brown hairs, and T4–T7 have black hairs (Peters 1978). Female body length is approximately 13 mm, and male body length is 11–13 mm (Peters 1978).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Peters 1978)

Mouthparts much smaller than the length of the entire body when extended.
Terga without apical hair bands.
Female clypeus with small median emargination on the apical edge and a small triangle-shaped depressed area around the emargination that is smooth and shiny.
Female scopa black.
Male mid-leg femur expanded ventrally.
Male gonocoxites conspicuously swollen subapically and acutely pointed apically.
Male S6 without basal gradulus.

May be confused with

O. nigrohirta females are easily distinguished from all other Osmia (Osmia) by their almost entirely black pubescence and relatively simple clypeus. Male O. nigrohirta can be very similar in coloration to O. mustelina (Peters 1978). O. nigrohirta males can be differentiated by the more brownish hair on the hind basitarsus and shape of the gonocoxites, which are acutely pointed apically (Peters 1978).