Osmia opima

• previous
 
• next

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Osmiini
Genus: Osmia Panzer, 1806
Subgenus: O. (Osmia) Panzer, 1806
Species: Osmia opima Gerstacker, 1869
Common name: none

Overview

Osmia (Osmia) opima are black bees; females have long yellow-gray hairs on the face with intermixed black hairs on the frons and vertex (Romankova 1985). T1–T5 have white hairs on the discs, and T6 have brown hairs (Romankova 1985). Males have long thick hair; T1–T3 has reddish hair, T4 has reddish mixed with dark hairs, and T5 has reddish mixed with lighter hairs (Romankova 1985). Female body length is 12.5–16.3 mm, and male body length is 12–13 mm (Romankova 1985).

Diagnostic characteristics 

(modified from Romankova 1985, many characters assumed to match the description of O. longicornis from Peters 1978)

• Mouthparts much smaller than the length of the entire body when extended.
• Terga with apical hair bands.
• Female clypeus with long lateral horns and an acute median projection. The disc of the clypeus is mostly shiny and impunctate.
• Male F1 almost as long as F2.
• Male gonostylus not expended apically.
• Male middle femur expanded ventrally.
• Male S8 rounded apically.

May be confused with 

Osmia opima are very similar looking to O. longicornis, especially the females, which previous authors have been unable to differentiate (Romankova 1985). Males can be differentiated by dissecting them to view the gonostylus, which is not expanded apically in O. opima as it is in O. longicornis (Romankova 1985). S8 also varies and has recurved lateral projections about mid-way through in O. opima and is more rounded apically (Romankova 1985).

Phenology

unknown

Host associations 

unknown

Nesting behavior 

Osmia opima make nests in old wood; cells are composed of clay (Romankova 1985).

Distribution

Osmia opima specimens have been recorded in southeastern Russia, northeastern China, and South Korea (Romankova 1985).

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