Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Megachile Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Chaetochile Mitchell, 1980
Common name: none
Megachile (Chaetochile) are large bees with black integument covered in long, dense yellowish-white and black hair, and they have pale apical hair bands on their terga (Durante and Abrahamovich 2006). They range in body length from 10–14 mm (Durante and Abrahamovich 2006). Megachile (Chaetochile) was previously synonymized with Megachile (Dasymegachile), but was resurrected by Gonzalez et al. 2019.
(modified from Mitchell 1980; Durante and Abrahamovich 2006)
Megachile (Chaetochile) are most similar to M. (Dasymegachile) in their size and long dense hair. Female M. (Chaetochile) can be differentiated by their flat clypeus with erect, hooked hair. Male M. (Chaetochile) can be identified by their middle mandibular tooth, which is truncate or notched and closer to the first tooth. The teeth of M. (Dasymegachile) are acute and equidistant from each other (Mitchell 1980; Durante and Abrahamovich 2006).
Megachile (Chaetochile) has been reported on Lathyrus macropus (Fabaceae) (Durante and Abrahamovich 2006).
Nesting behavior is unknown.
Megachile (Chaetochile) includes a single species, Megachile schwimmeri (Durante and Abrahamovich 2006; Engel 2017).
There are no known invasives.
Megachile (Chaetochile) are known from Argentina, Brazil, and Peru (Durante and Abrahamovich 2006).
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