Trachusoides

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Trachusoides Michener and Griswold, 1994
Subgenera: none
Common name: none

Overview

Trachusoides are large bees with a body length of 12 mm. They have a black head and thorax and a yellowish-red abdomen (Michener and Griswold 1994Griswold 1994:
Griswold, T.L. 1994. A review of the Ochreriades . Pan-pacific Entomologist 70: 318ndash;321.). This genus is only known from female specimens; male Trachusoides are unknown.

Diversity

Trachusoides contains 2 species: T. simplex and T. elsieae (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.; Griswold 2015Griswold 2015:
Griswold, T. 2015. A review of Trachusoides Michener and Griswold (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Zootaxa 3949: 147ndash;150.); 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.
• Middle tibiatibia:
  the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
  anterioranterior:
  toward the head or on the head side of a segment being described
  and posterior margins equally convexconvex:
  curved outward
  and narrow at the apexapex:
  end of any structure
  of the base.
• Middle tibiatibia:
  the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
  narrower than hind tibiatibia:
  the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
  .
• Preoccipital ridge preoccipital ridge:
  the carina that dorsolaterally surrounds the back of the head
  rounded (Michener and Griswold 1994Griswold 1994:
  Griswold, T.L. 1994. A review of the Ochreriades . Pan-pacific Entomologist 70: 318ndash;321.).
• 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 strong carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  .
• Propodeum propodeum:
  the last segment of the thorax
  without postspiricular pits or foveaefoveae:
  a depressed region of cuticle; in bees this depressed area is usually only very slightly hollow and usually on the face.
  .
• Scutellum scutellum:
  shield shaped plate behind scutum
  distinctly overhanging metanotummetanotum:
  the posterior dorsal segment of the thorax, behind the scutellum
  .
• Tarsal claws simple.

May be confused with

Trachusoides is similar in form to Apianthidium and Trachusa but can be differentiated by the simple tarsal claws in the female (Michener and Griswold 1994Griswold 1994:
Griswold, T.L. 1994. A review of the Ochreriades . Pan-pacific Entomologist 70: 318ndash;321.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Host associations

Floral associations are unknown.

Nesting behavior

Nesting behavior is unknown.

Distribution

Trachusoides simplex occurs in southern India, and T. elsieae occurs in Laos (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.; Griswold 2015Griswold 2015:
Griswold, T. 2015. A review of Trachusoides Michener and Griswold (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Zootaxa 3949: 147ndash;150.).

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

References

Griswold, T. 2015. A review of Trachusoides Michener and Griswold (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Zootaxa 3949:147-150.
 
Michener, C.D. and T.L. Griswold. 1994. The classification of old worldOld World:
the part of the world that was known before the discovery of the Americas, comprised of Europe, Asia, and Africa; the Eastern Hemisphere
Anthidiini (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). The University of Kansas Science Bulletin 55:299-327.
 
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World. 2nd ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.