Ceratina (Zadontomerus)

Taxonomy

Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Xylocopinae
Tribe: Ceratinini
Genus: Ceratina Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Zadontomerus Ashmead, 1899
Common name: small carpenter bees

Overview

Ceratina (Zadontomerus) is the most diverse Ceratina subgenus in North America. They have black, weakly metallic integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
and sometimes pale maculations that are limited to the head, pronotal lobepronotal lobe:
a part of the pronotum located dorsally on the posterior margin of the pronotum and overlaps the anterior thoracic spiracle
, and legs. Their body length varies from 4–12 mm, but is usually between 5–7 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 Daly 1973Daly 1973:
Daly, H. V. 1973. Bees of the genus Ceratina in America North of Mexico (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology 74: 1ndash;114.; Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.)

• Front and middle tibiaetibiae:
  the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
  each with a single, small apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  spine.
• Gena gena:
  the cheek or side of the head
  and paraocularparaocular:
  the area extending along the sides of the face parallel to the eye
  areas with distinct punctures.
• Maxillary palpipalpi:
  sensory appendages part of the labium and maxilla
  6-segmented.
• Preoccipital ridge preoccipital ridge:
  the carina that dorsolaterally surrounds the back of the head
  carinatecarinate:
  having keels or carinae
  .
• Pronotal collar with transverse carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  medially and rounded laterally.
• T2–T5 and S2–S3 with graduligraduli:
  A transverse line on abdominal segments of some bees that is formed by a groove or a step between two regions that differ in height. This line can be well developed and present across the entire segment but can also be diminished or absent through part of the segment, requiring close inspection.
  present.
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  3-toothed.
• Male mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  bidentatebidentate:
  having two teeth
  .
• 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
  with a dense median tuft of hair which may conceal a subapicalsubapical:
  located just behind the apex of the segment or body part
  protuberanceprotuberance:
  rising or produced above the surface or the general level of a feature
  (except Ceratina diodonta which lacks hair and protuberance).
• 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
  with a flat, median-apical projection.

May be confused with

Ceratina (Zadontomerus) may be confused with species of Ceratina (Ceratinula), but they can be separated by the punctuation on the face and the presence of a preoccipital carinacarina:
a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
, which is absent in Ceratina (Ceratinula).

Host associations

Ceratina (Zadontomerus) have been observed visiting flowers from a broad spectrum of genera in multiple plant families including Amaranthaceae, Amygdaloideae, Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, Brassicaceae, Cactaceae, Cannaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Ericaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Grossulariaceae, Hypericaceae, Iridaceae, Lamiaceae, Malvaceae, Nelumbonaceae, Oleaceae, Onagraceae, Paeoniaceae, Papaveraceae, Phrymaceae, Plantaginaceae, Polemoniaceae, ‎Polygonaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rosaceae, Salicaceae, Tropaeolaceae, Verbenaceae, and Vitaceae (Michener and Eickwort 1966Michener and Eickwort 1966:
Michener, C.D. and K.R. Eickwort. 1966. Observations on the nests of Ceratina in Costa Rica (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Revista de Biologiacute;a Tropical 14(2): 279ndash;286.; Daly 1973Daly 1973:
Daly, H. V. 1973. Bees of the genus Ceratina in America North of Mexico (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology 74: 1ndash;114.).

Nesting behavior

Ceratina (Zadontomerus) have been found nesting in pithy stems and twigs of plants in multiple families including; sumac (Anacardiaceae), teasel (Caprifoliaceae), and raspberry (Rosaceae) (Rehan and Richards 2010Rehan and Richards 2010:
Rehan, S.M. and M.H. Richards. 2010. Nesting and life cycle of Ceratina calcarata in southern Ontario (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae). Canadian Entomologist 142: 65ndash;74.; Vickruck et al. 2010Vickruck et al. 2010:
Vickruck, J. L., J.T. Huber, and M.H. Richards. 2010. Natural enemies of the bees genus Ceratina (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in the Niagara region, Ontario, Canada. Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario 141: 11‒26.). They have also been observed reusing the nests of Ceratina ignara (Michener and Eickwort 1966Michener and Eickwort 1966:
Michener, C.D. and K.R. Eickwort. 1966. Observations on the nests of Ceratina in Costa Rica (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Revista de Biologiacute;a Tropical 14(2): 279ndash;286.).

Diversity

Ceratina (Zadontomerus) includes 29 described species (Ascher and Pickering 2020Ascher and Pickering 2020:
Ascher, J.S. and J. Pickering. 2020. Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila). https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=Carinulaamp;name=Megachileamp;flags=subgenus :).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Ceratina (Zadontomerus) occur from Quebec to British Columbia in Canada, south throughout North and Central America to northern Colombia and Venezuela (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

Ascher J.S. and J. Pickering. 2020. Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila).  https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=Zadontomerus&name=Ceratina&flags=subgenus:

Daly, H. V. 1973. Bees of the genus Ceratina in America north of Mexico. University of California Publications in Entomology 74: 1‒114.

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

Michener, C.D. and K.R. Eickwort. 1966. Observations on nests of Ceratina in Costa Rica (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Revista de Biologia Tropical 14(2): 279‒286.

Rehan, M. and H. Richards. 2010. Nesting biology and subsociality in Ceratina calcarata (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Canadian Entomologist 142: 65–74.

Vickruck, J. L., J.T. Huber, and M.H. Richards. 2010. Natural enemies of the bees genus Ceratina (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in the Niagara region, Ontario, Canada. Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario 141: 11‒26.