Hypanthidium

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Hypanthidium Cockerell, 1904
Subgenera:  Hypanthidium, Tylanthidium
Common name: none

Overview

Hypanthidium often has dark colored integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
with yellow maculations on their head, thorax, and abdomen (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). In some instances, they can be nearly entirely yellow or reddish-yellow. They have a somewhat robust, parallel-sided body, and range in body length from 7–10.5 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

Hypanthidium contains 17 species within two subgenera (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. unless otherwise stated)

• Arolia absent.
• Juxtantennal carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  absent.
• Preoccipital ridge preoccipital ridge:
  the carina that dorsolaterally surrounds the back of the head
  without carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  .
• Pronotal lobes with high carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  (Michener 1948Michener 1948:
  Michener, C.D. 1948. The generic classification of the anthidiine bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). American Museum of Natural History, New York.).
• Propodeum propodeum:
  the last segment of the thorax
  with foveafovea:
  a depressed region of cuticle; in bees this depressed area is usually only very slightly hollow and usually on the face.
  defined by a carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  behind spiraclespiracle:
  a breathing pore, usually occurring on the third thorasic segment
  present.
• Propodeum propodeum:
  the last segment of the thorax
  with a distinct row of pits on the upper margin.
• 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 large, rounded, and subtruncate. The distaldistal:
  place on a segment that is furthest from the place of attachment with the body
  margin of 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 translucent.

May be confused with

Hypanthidium may be confused with Anthodioctes that can have a similar elongate body shape and dark coloration with limited yellow markings; however, they can be differentiated by the lack of aroliaarolia:
the cushion-like pad between the tarsal claws found at the ends of some bees' legs
and juxtantennal carinae, and lack of a carinacarina:
a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
between the dorsaldorsal:
in general, the upper surface
and anterioranterior:
toward the head or on the head side of a segment being described
surfaces T1T1:
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
in Hypanthidium (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

Hypanthidium is a specialist and is dependent on Dalechampia (Euphorbiaceae) for pollen and resin for nesting, both of which are collected simultaneously (Armbruster 1984Armbruster 1984:
Armbruster, S.W. 1984. The role of resin in angiosperm pollination: ecological and chemical considerations. American Journal of Botany 71: 1149ndash;1160.).

Nesting behavior

Hypanthidium build nests out of resin, which is collected from Dalechampia (Euphorbiaceae) at the same time as the pollen (Armbruster 1984Armbruster 1984:
Armbruster, S.W. 1984. The role of resin in angiosperm pollination: ecological and chemical considerations. American Journal of Botany 71: 1149ndash;1160.). Resin is carried in small globules behind their mandibles (Armbruster and Webster 1981Armbruster and Webster 1981:
Armbruster, S.W. and G.L. Webster. 1981. Sistemas de polinizavao de duas especies simpatricas de Dalechampia (Euphorbiaceae) no Amazonas, Brasil. Acta Amazonica 11: 13ndash;17.). Hypanthidium likely use resin to seal nesting cavities, line cells, and create nest plugs, which is a behavior commonly seen in megachilid bees (Grigarick and Stange 1968Grigarick and Stange 1968:
Grigarick, A.A. and L.A. Stange. 1968. Pollen collecting bees of the Anthidiini of California (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the California Insect Survey 9: 1ndash;113.).

Distribution

Hypanthidium are distributed in the NeotropicalNeotropical:
biogeographic region that includes South and Central America, the Caribbean Islands, southern Florida, and the southern Mexican lowlands
region, specifically in Sonora, San Luis Potosi, and Yucatan, Mexico; Misiones, Argentina; Paraguay; Bolivia; and Amazonas, Brazil (Michener 1948Michener 1948:
Michener, C.D. 1948. The generic classification of the anthidiine bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). American Museum of Natural History, New York., 2007).

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

References

Armbruster, S.W. 1984. The role of resin in angiosperm pollination: ecological and chemical considerations. American Journal of Botany 71: 1149-1160.

Armbruster, S.W. and G.L. Webster. 1981. Sistemas de polinizavao de duas especies simpatricas de Dalechampia (Euphorbiaceae) no Amazonas, Brasil. Acta Amazonica 11:13-17.

Grigarick, A.A. and L.A. Stange. 1968. Pollen collecting bees of the Anthidiini of California (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the California Insect Survey 9:1-113.

Michener, C.D. 1948. The generic classification of the Anthidiine bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). American Museum of Natural History, New York.

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