Saucrochile

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Saucrochile Gonzalez & Engel, 2019
Common name: none

Overview

Saucrochile are small, elongate bees with shiny black integument and white apical hair bands on the terga. They range in body length from 8–11mm. The genus name is based on the Greek words “saukros” and “chile,” which can be translated to “graceful” and “tooth,” respectively (Gonzalez et al. 2019).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Gonzalez et al. 2019)

Preoccipital carina absent.
Pronotal lobe rounded, not carinate.
Tarsal claws simple, without a basal tooth.
Female labrum long and parallel-sided.
Female terga with strong postgradular grooves.
Female mandible three-toothed, elongate, and without cutting edges.
Male antennae with F1 shorter than F2.
Male front coxa with a small spine.
Male mandible three-toothed, without a basal projection on the lower margin.
Male T6 with preapical carina emarginate medially.
Male T6 with four small, equidistant teeth.
Male T7 with slightly projected preapical carina.

May be confused with

Saucrochile may look similar to some species of Hackeriapis in size, coloration, and elongate body shape. Saucrochile differs in the lack of a basal tooth on the tarsal claws and the rounded pronotal lobe (Gonzalez et al. 2019).

Host associations

Floral associations are unknown.

Nesting behavior

Nesting behavior is unknown.

Diversity

Saucrochile includes one species, Saucrochile heriadiformis, which was previously included in the genus Hackeriapis (Gonzalez et al. 2019).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Saucrochile are known from southeastern Australia (King 1994; Ascher and Pickering 2020).

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