Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Megachile Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Cestella Pasteels, 1962
Common name: none
Megachile (Cestella) are bees with black integument and both black and white hair (Pasteels 1965). They range in body length from 14–17 mm (Michener 2007).
(modified from Michener 2007; Gonzalez 2008)
Megachile (Cestella) may be confused with Callomegachile because they both have similarly dull mandibles (Michener 2007). Megachile (Cestella) can be differentiated from Callomegachile by the five-toothed mandible and the shiny hairless area on the clypeus of the female. Males can be differentiated by the denticulate preapical carina of T6 (Michener 2007).
Floral associations are unknown.
Nesting behavior is unknown.
Megachile (Cestella) consists of two species: M. cestifera and M. tsimbazazae (Michener 2007). None are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada.
There are no known invasives.
Megachile (Cestella) is only known to occur in Madagascar (Michener 2007).
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