Osmia (Trichinosmia)

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Osmiini
Genus: Osmia Panzer, 1806
Subgenus: Trichinosmia Sinha, 1958
Common name: none

Overview

Osmia (Trichinosmia) are green metallic bees with long, branched mixed black and white hairs on the head and thorax. They range in body length from 9–10 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.)

• Forewing with hairs about as half as long as the width of the stigmastigma:
  a pigmented/ thickened spot on the costal margin of the forewing, usually at the end of the radius(Greek, stigma= mark)
  .
• Head and thorax are covered in long branched hairs.
• Hind coxacoxa:
  the basal segment of the leg
  without strong 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.
• Parapsidal line parapsidal line:
  the line that runs submedially along the scutum and corresponds to the median border of the site of origin for flight muscles
  punctiform.
• Female clypeal margin with strong laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  teeth and small median tooth.
• Male antenna with middle flagellar segment two times as long as wide.
• Male S2S2:
  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
  large and convexconvex:
  curved outward
  , often covering S3S3:
  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
  at least medially.

May be confused with

Osmia (Trichinosmia) can look similar to some species of O. (Melanosmia) but can be distinguished by abundant long, branched hairs on the head and thorax, and long hairs on their wings (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

Host associations

A study examining the pollen provisions in nest cells of O. latisulcata suggests that this species is oligolecticoligolectic:
the term used to describe bees that specialize on a narrow range of pollen sources, generally a specific plant genus
on Astragalus (Parker 1984Parker 1984:
Parker, F.D. 1984. Nesting biology of Osmia (Trichinosmia) latisulcata Michener. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 57: 430ndash;436.).

Nesting behavior

In a study on Osmia (Trichinosmia), Parker (1984) observed O. latisulcata nesting in drilled holes in wood blocks. The cell partitions were constructed out of pebbles and masticated leaf pulp. This suggests that Osmia (Trichinosmia) nests in cavities; however, the types of cavities they use for nesting in nature is currently unknown.

Diversity

Osmia (Trichinosmia) is monotypic with only one described species, O. latisulcata (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

Distribution

Osmia (Trichinosmia) occur in desert or semi-desert areas in southwestern U.S. (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

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

Parker, F.D. 1984. Nesting biology of Osmia (Trichinosmia) latisulcata Michener. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 57: 430-436.