Pararhophites

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Fideliinae
Tribe: Pararhophitini
Genus: Pararhophites Friese, 1898
Subgenera: none
Common name: none

Overview

Pararhophites range in body length from 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.). They are sexually dimorphicdimorphic:
having two distinct forms
, with females being primarily yellow, while males are black or brown with yellow patterning on the legs 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.). Pararhophites are the only nonparasitic Megachilidae genus without sternal scopascopa:
modified hairs for carrying pollen; often branched and dense hairs on the hind-leg, or on the ventral surface of the abdomen in Megachilidae
(Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

Diversity

Pararhophites contains 3 species worldwide; none are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada (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.)

• Arolia present.
• Juxtantennal carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  absent.
• Forewing with two submarginal cellssubmarginal cells:
  one or more cells of the wing lying immediately behind the marginal cells
  .
• Pronotal lobes with carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  absent.
• Stigma stigma:
  a pigmented/ thickened spot on the costal margin of the forewing, usually at the end of the radius(Greek, stigma= mark)
  twice as long as prestigmaprestigma:
  the expansion of the venation at the confluence of the costal/subcostal and radial sector veins basal of the prostigma
  .
• Females lack sternal scopascopa:
  modified hairs for carrying pollen; often branched and dense hairs on the hind-leg, or on the ventral surface of the abdomen in Megachilidae
  and instead have scopa-like hairs on the hind tibiatibia:
  the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
  .
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  with two teeth.
• Male hind leg enlarged, especially femurfemur:
  the third segment of the leg, situated between the trochanter and the tibia
  .
• 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
  without distinct pygidial platepygidial plate:
  unusually flat area (a plate) surrounded by a ridge or line and sometimes sticking well off of the end of the bee; if present, found on the sixth upper abdominal segment in females, seventh in males
  .
• 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
  tridentate or trilobed.

May be confused with

Pararhophites is unique within Megachilidae, especially the females, due to the scopascopa:
modified hairs for carrying pollen; often branched and dense hairs on the hind-leg, or on the ventral surface of the abdomen in Megachilidae
on their hind tibiatibia:
the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
, so it is unlikely to be confused with any other genera within the family.

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Host associations

Pararhophites are believed to be generalists on Zygophyllaceae. Pararhophites quadratus has been found to utilize Zygophyllum (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Peganum harmala may also be an important host plant for Pararhophites (McGinley and Rozen 1987McGinley and Rozen 1987:
McGinley, R.J. and J.G. Rozen Jr. 1987. Nesting biology, immature stages, and phylogenetic placement of the Palaearctic bee Pararhophites (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). American Museum Novitates 2903: 1ndash;21.).

Nesting behavior

Only the solitary nesting habits of P. orobinus are known. They have been observed nesting in small aggregations, where they excavate irregularly shaped nests belowground with an entrance burrow leading to multiple branches (McGinley and Rozen 1987McGinley and Rozen 1987:
McGinley, R.J. and J.G. Rozen Jr. 1987. Nesting biology, immature stages, and phylogenetic placement of the Palaearctic bee Pararhophites (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). American Museum Novitates 2903: 1ndash;21.). Cells are formed from pollen and sand grains moistened with nectar (McGinley and Rozen 1987McGinley and Rozen 1987:
McGinley, R.J. and J.G. Rozen Jr. 1987. Nesting biology, immature stages, and phylogenetic placement of the Palaearctic bee Pararhophites (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). American Museum Novitates 2903: 1ndash;21.). A mix of wet and dry pollen is provisioned into a receptacle in the rear of the cell (McGinley and Rozen 1987McGinley and Rozen 1987:
McGinley, R.J. and J.G. Rozen Jr. 1987. Nesting biology, immature stages, and phylogenetic placement of the Palaearctic bee Pararhophites (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). American Museum Novitates 2903: 1ndash;21.). The species goes through diapausediapause:
a period of dormancy during development, generally during unfavorable environmental conditions
within their cocoons (McGinley and Rozen 1987McGinley and Rozen 1987:
McGinley, R.J. and J.G. Rozen Jr. 1987. Nesting biology, immature stages, and phylogenetic placement of the Palaearctic bee Pararhophites (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). American Museum Novitates 2903: 1ndash;21.). Post defecating, inactive larvaelarvae:
active immature form of an insect, especially one that differs greatly from the adult and forms the stage between egg and pupa
can remain in diapausediapause:
a period of dormancy during development, generally during unfavorable environmental conditions
for more than 5 years (Rozen 1990Rozen 1990:
Rozen Jr., J.G. 1990. Pupa of the bee Pararhophites orobinus (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Journal of the New York Entomological Society 98: 379ndash;382.).

Distribution

Pararhophites can be found in Morocco west to Egypt and from Kazakhstan south to Pakistan and northwestern India (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

McGinley, R.J. and J.G. Rozen Jr. 1987. Nesting biology, immature stages, and phylogenetic placement of the Palaearctic bee Pararhophites (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). American Museum Novitates 2903:1-21.

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

Rozen Jr., J.G. 1990. Pupapupa:
an insect in its inactive immature form between larva and adult
of the bee Pararhophites orobinus (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Journal of the New York Entomological Society 98:379-382.