Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Megachile Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Ptilosaroides Mitchell, 1980
Common name: none
Megachile (Ptilosaroides) are bees with yellow wing bases, dusky costal margins on the forewings, and short, abundant, yellow hairs. They range in body length from 8–9 mm (Michener 2007).
(modified from Michener 2007; Gonzalez 2008)
Megachile (Ptilosaroides) may be confused with bees within the subgenera Megachile (Ptilosarus) as they have similar wing coloration and both have short, abundant yellow hairs (Michener 2007). Males can be differentiated from Megachile (Ptilosarus) by the presence of a spine on the front coxa; females can be differentiated by the absence of both the strong preoccipital carina and the specialized hairs on the ventral surface of the thorax (Michener 2007; Raw 2007; Gonzalez 2008).
Megachile (Ptilosaroides) have been observed visiting flowers of Fabaceae and Lamiaceae (Drumond and Cardoso 2003; Muniz et al. 2013).
Megachile (Ptilosaroides) nests in crevices, soil cracks, sand banks, termite burrows, and the abandoned nests of solitary bees, specifically Ptilothrix plumata and Diadasina distincta (Raw 2007; Gonzalez 2008). Nest cells are comprised of flower petals (Raw 2007).
Megachile (Ptilosaroides) consists of two species (Michener 2007; Gonzalez 2008); none are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada.
There are no known invasives.
Megachile (Ptilosaroides) is a Neotropical subgenus, and these bees range from southern Brazil to Panama (Michener 2007).
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