Hofferia

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Osmiini
Genus: Hofferia Tkalců, 1984
Subgenera: none
Common name: none

Overview

Hofferia are black to reddish-black, slender, and elongate bees with apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
bands of hair on their 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
. They range in body length from 8.5–15 mm (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

Diversity

Hofferia contains 2 species worldwide (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.); none are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada.

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.)

• Arolia present.
• Labrum labrum:
  part of the head abutting the clypeus, folds down in front of the mouthparts
  longer than clypeusclypeus:
  a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
  .
• Middle tibiatibia:
  the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
  with one apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  spine.
• Preoccipital carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  present .
• Pronotal lobe pronotal lobe:
  a part of the pronotum located dorsally on the posterior margin of the pronotum and overlaps the anterior thoracic spiracle
  without carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  .
• Scutum scutum:
  the large segment on top of the thorax located between the wings and behind the head
  with acute posterior laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  angle.
• Female labrumlabrum:
  part of the head abutting the clypeus, folds down in front of the mouthparts
  without preapicalpreapical:
  referring to a section of a bee that is physically found just before the outermost (or apical) end of the section or segment
  tuft or fringe of hairs.
• Female 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 median apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  spike.
• Female tarsal claw simple.
• Male S1S1:
  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
  produced and truncatetruncate:
  ending abruptly, or squared off
  .
• Male S1S1:
  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
  without brush of hair under the margin.
• 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 irregular nodulose preapicalpreapical:
  referring to a section of a bee that is physically found just before the outermost (or apical) end of the section or segment
  carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  .

May be confused with

Hofferia may be confused with Chelostoma and Protosmia due to their similar elongate builds and external characteristics, but they can be distinguished by the combination of characters above (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Host associations

Hofferia specializes on Carduoideae (Asteraceae) (Müller and Trunz 2014).

Nesting behavior

Hofferia are solitary nesting bees, but little is known about their nesting habits. Hofferia schmiedeknechti builds nests in wood-boring beetle excavations in dead wood (Müller and Trunz 2014). Thin-cell partitions are made from plant resin (Rozen and Praz 2016Rozen and Praz 2016:
Rozen, J.G. and C.J. Praz. 2016. Mature larvae and nesting biologies of bees currently assigned to the Osmiini (Apoidea: Megachilidae). American Museum Novitates 3864: 1ndash;46.). A nest plug is made from resin mixed with small pebbles (Müller and Trunz 2014; Rozen and Praz 2016Rozen and Praz 2016:
Rozen, J.G. and C.J. Praz. 2016. Mature larvae and nesting biologies of bees currently assigned to the Osmiini (Apoidea: Megachilidae). American Museum Novitates 3864: 1ndash;46.).

Distribution

Hofferia ranges throughout the Mediterranean from Morocco, Algeria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece (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.
 
Müller, A. and V. Trunz. 2014. Palaearctic Osmiine bees of the genera Hofferia and Stenoheriades (Megachilidae, Osmiini): biology, taxonomy and key to species. Zootaxa 3765:175-186.
 
Rozen, J.G. and C.J. Praz. 2016. Mature larvaelarvae:
active immature form of an insect, especially one that differs greatly from the adult and forms the stage between egg and pupa
and nesting biologies of bees currently assigned to the Osmiini (Apoidea: Megachilidae). American Museum Novitates 3864:1-46.