Prodioxys

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Dioxyini
Genus: Prodioxys Friese, 1914
Subgenera: none
Common name: none

Overview

Prodioxys are distinct-looking bees with long, erect, red hairs on the head, thorax, and 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
that do not appear in other Dioxyini. They range in body length from 9–11 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

Prodioxys contains 3 species (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.)

• Axilla axilla:
  the triangular or rounded point on the thorax where thoracic muscles meet the forewing of an insect
  rounded or straight.
• Forewing with first recurrent vein entering first submarginal cell or nearly meeting first transverse cubital veincubital vein:
  the longitudinal vein that is posterior to the marginal vein
  .
• Metanotum metanotum:
  the posterior dorsal segment of the thorax, behind the scutellum
  with median tooth.
• Pronotal lobe pronotal lobe:
  a part of the pronotum located dorsally on the posterior margin of the pronotum and overlaps the anterior thoracic spiracle
  with carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  absent.
• Scutellum scutellum:
  shield shaped plate behind scutum
  produced laterally to form a tooth or spine.
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  bidentatebidentate:
  having two teeth
  .
• 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
  narrowly rounded, only slightly extending beyond 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
  if at all.
• Male genitaliagenitalia:
  all the genital structures collectively
  are elongate.

May be confused with

Prodioxys may be confused with other Dioxyini due to similar coloration or builds, but Prodioxys lack the long red hairs on the anterioranterior:
toward the head or on the head side of a segment being described
portion of the body as well as the laterallateral:
relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
pronotal angle (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

Prodioxys are cleptoparasiticcleptoparasitic:
bees that lay their eggs in the nest cells of bees in other genera. Their larvae depend on the pollen provided by their host. Since cleptoparasitic bees don't provision their own nests, and instead depend on the pollen collected by their host, the females lack pollen collecting hairs. This often gives them a wasp-like appearance.
bees, and females do not gather pollen from flowers since the larvaelarvae:
active immature form of an insect, especially one that differs greatly from the adult and forms the stage between egg and pupa
develop parasitically on their host’s pollen provisions (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). They will, however, visit a wide variety of flowers for nectar.

Nesting behavior

Prodioxys are cleptoparasiticcleptoparasitic:
bees that lay their eggs in the nest cells of bees in other genera. Their larvae depend on the pollen provided by their host. Since cleptoparasitic bees don't provision their own nests, and instead depend on the pollen collected by their host, the females lack pollen collecting hairs. This often gives them a wasp-like appearance.
, but their specific nesting behavior and hosts are unknown (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

Distribution

Prodioxys occurs from Algeria to Egypt and Israel (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.