Osmia (Pyrosmia)

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Osmiini
Genus: Osmia Panzer, 1806
Subgenus: Pyrosmia Tkalců, 1975
Common name: none

Overview

Osmia (Pyrosmia) are bees with metallic blue, green, purple, or red integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
and pale or sometimes red pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
. They often have apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
bands of hair on the tergaterga:
the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, or T7
and range in body length from 4–8 mm (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.)

• Hind coxacoxa:
  the basal segment of the leg
  with a longitudinal carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  along inner ventralventral:
  of, on, or relating to the underside of an animal, or segment of an animal
  angle, which can be weak and difficult to see at times.
• Female clypeusclypeus:
  a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
  is truncatetruncate:
  ending abruptly, or squared off
  and overhangs the base of the labrumlabrum:
  part of the head abutting the clypeus, folds down in front of the mouthparts
  .
• Female mandibles are robust and narrower medially than basally.
• Male S4S4:
  the plates on the underside of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, or S8
  apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  margin has two carinae laterally with a narrow, hairless, shiny groove between them.
• Male S6S6:
  the plates on the underside of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, or S8
  with a longitudinal median groove.
• Male T6T6:
  the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, or T7
  margin medially convexconvex:
  curved outward
  and often somewhat inflated laterally.
• Male T7T7:
  the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, or T7
  is often trifid.

May be confused with

Osmia (Pyrosmia) are often similar looking to O. (Diceratosmia). These two subgenera have enough shared characters that it has been suggested that they could be combined into a single subgenus (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Some of the notable characters they have in common are the two laterallateral:
relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
carinacarina:
a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
on the apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
margin of the male S4S4:
the plates on the underside of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, or S8
, carinatecarinate:
having keels or carinae
hind coxaecoxae:
the basal segment of the leg
, and elongate parapsidal lines (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Osmia (Pyrosmia) males can be differentiated from O. (Diceratosmia) by their simple, gently convexconvex:
curved outward
T6 and the longitudinal median groove on S6S6:
the plates on the underside of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, or S8
(Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Females can be more difficult to tell apart but Osmia (Pyrosmia) often have weaker carinacarina:
a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
on the hind coxacoxa:
the basal segment of the leg
.

Host associations

Osmia (Pyrosmia) are generalists with a preference for Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, Lamiaceae, Resedaceae, Antirrhineae, Brassicaceae, Cistaceae, Alliaceae, Crassulaceae, and Campanulaceae (Banaszak and Romasenko 1998Banaszak and Romasenko 1998:
Banaszak, J. and L. Romasenko. 1998. Megachilid bees of Europe (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Bydgoszcz University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.; Grace 2010Grace 2010:
Grace, A. 2010. Introductory biogeography to bees of the eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Bexhill Museum, Sussex, United Kingdom.; Khodaparast and Monfared 2012Khodaparast and Monfared 2012:
Khodaparast, R. and A. Monfared. 2012. A survey of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) from Fars Province, Iran. Zootaxa 3445: 37ndash;58., 2013; Müller 2018b).

Nesting behavior

Species of Osmia (Pyrosmia) have been observed nesting in holes in wood, stems, galls, abandoned insect burrows, cavities between stones, and snail shells (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp., Müller 2018b). Cell partitions are constructed out of leaf pulp (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Osmia amathusica nests in crevices in stones. Cells are constructed out of masticated leaves and small pebbles (Müller 2018b). Osmia cyanoxantha nests in preexisting cavities and on stone surfaces in small holes. Cell partitions are comprised of masticated leaves and occasionally small pebbles. Nest plugs are constructed from 2–4 layers small pebbles and leaf pulp (Müller 2018b). Osmia derasa nests in the abandoned cells of Hoplitis nests (Müller 2018b). Osmia ferruginea nests in empty snail shells and hollow stems. Cell partitions and nest plugs are comprised of masticated leaves, with the occasional use of small pebbles or other particles. The space between the outer cell and the nest plug is filled with pebbles, dirt, seeds, or leaflets (Müller 2018b). Osmia oramara nest in cavities between flat stones. Cells are constructed of leaf pulp. The cells are attached to one another with the use of leaf pulp and masticated leaves. The cell chamber is covered in leaf pulp (Müller 2018b). Osmia submicans nests in insect burrows in dead wood, hollow stems, cavities in small rocks, and abandoned cells in Megachile nests. Cell partitions are comprised of masticated leaves. Nest plugs are constructed from leaf pulp and occasionally small pebbles or mud (Müller 2018b).

Diversity

Osmia (Pyrosmia) consists of 30 species (Müller 2018b). None are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada.

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Osmia (Pyrosmia) ranges from central and southern Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, India, and Mongolia (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

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

References

Banaszak, J. and L. Romasenko. 1998. Megachilid Bees of Europe. Pedagogical University of Bydgoszcz, Poland, 239 pp.

Falamarzi, S., B. Habibpour, M.S. Mossadegh, and A. Monfared. 2017. Species inventory of Megachilidae (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in south of Fars province, Iran. Entomofauna 38:89-104.

Grace, A. 2010. Introductory biogeography to bees of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Bexhill Museum Association, 283 pp.

Khodaparast, R. and A. Monfared. 2012. A survey of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) from Fars Province, Iran. Zootaxa 3445: 37–58.

Khodaparast, R. and A. Monfared. 2013. Taxonomic studies on Osmiine bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea: Megachilidae) of Fars province (Iran). Entomofauna 34: 229–260.

Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.

Müller, A. 2018. Palaearctic Osmiine Bees, ETH Zürich. http://blogs.ethz.ch/osmiini