Anthidium florentinum

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Anthidium Fabricius, 1804
Subgenus: A. (Anthidium) Fabricius, 1804
Species: Anthidium florentinum (Fabricius, 1775)
Common name: none

Overview

Anthidium (Anthidium) florentinum are black with yellow maculations. Males have white to grey hairs on the laterallateral:
relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
portion of the abdomen. Anthidium florentinum is an invasive species, and was recently unintentionally introduced into Montreal, Canada from the Mediterranean Basin (Normandin et al. 2017Normandin et al. 2017:
Normandin, E., N.J. Vereecken, C.M. Buddle, and V. Fournier. 2017. Taxonomic and functional trait diversity of wild bees in different urban settings. PeerJ: 1ndash;35.).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Banaszak and Romasenko 1998Banaszak and Romasenko 1998:
Banaszak, J. and L. Romasenko. 1998. Megachilid bees of Europe (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Bydgoszcz University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.)

• Female clypeusclypeus:
  a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
  is entirely yellow.
• Female 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
  is yellowish or white.
• Female T5–T6 with laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  teeth.
• Male T4–T6 with laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  teeth.
• 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
  with long laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  teeth and a short dorsoventrally flattened median projection.

May be confused with

Anthidium florentinum may be confused with A. manicatum due to their similar size, coloration, and aggressive territorial behavior. Anthidium florentinum can be differentiated from A. manicatum by the diagnostic characters listed above.

Phenology

Anthidium florentinum adults have been recorded in flight from July to August (Amiet et al. 2004Amiet et al. 2004:
Amiet, F., M. Herrmann, A. Mueller, and R. Neumeyer. 2004. Apidae 4: Anthidium , Chelostoma , Coelioxys , Dioxys , Heriades , Lithurgus , Megachile , Osmia , Stelis . Fauna Helvetica 9: 1ndash;273.; Discover Life 2018cDiscover Life 2018c:
Discover Life. 2018c. Anthidium florentinum (Fabricus, 1775). Discover Life. https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Anthidium+florentinumamp;flags=subgenus).

Host associations

Anthidium florentinum is a generalist that has been observed visiting a variety of species within Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Rosaceae, and Scrophulariaceae; however, in general, they have a preference for Fabaceae and Lamiaceae (Müller 1996; Banaszak and Romasenko 1998Banaszak and Romasenko 1998:
Banaszak, J. and L. Romasenko. 1998. Megachilid bees of Europe (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Bydgoszcz University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.; Amiet et al. 2004Amiet et al. 2004:
Amiet, F., M. Herrmann, A. Mueller, and R. Neumeyer. 2004. Apidae 4: Anthidium , Chelostoma , Coelioxys , Dioxys , Heriades , Lithurgus , Megachile , Osmia , Stelis . Fauna Helvetica 9: 1ndash;273.; Grace 2010Grace 2010:
Grace, A. 2010. Introductory biogeography to bees of the eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Bexhill Museum, Sussex, United Kingdom.; Keshtkar et al. 2015Keshtkar et al. 2015:
Keshtkar, A., A. Monfared, and M. Haghani. 2015. A survey on pollinator bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in parks and gardens of Shiraz City, Iran. Entomofauna 36: 53ndash;64.; Murao et al. 2015Murao et al. 2015:
Murao, R., O. Tadauchi, and R. Miyanaga. 2015. The bee tribe Anthidiini (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) collected from Central Asia. Japanese Journal of Systematic Entomology 21: 7ndash;12.; Discover Life 2018cDiscover Life 2018c:
Discover Life. 2018c. Anthidium florentinum (Fabricus, 1775). Discover Life. https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Anthidium+florentinumamp;flags=subgenus). In Italy, A. florentinum has a preference for Rubus (Rosaceae) (Müller 1996). In a comparative experimental study within the U.S., A. florentinum was identified as an efficient pollinator of alfalfa; however, their territorial behaviors may hinder their usefulness as a managed pollinator (Batra 1976Batra 1976:
Batra, S.W.T. 1976. Comparative efficiency of alfalfa pollination by Nomia melanderi , Megachile rotundata , Anthidium florentinum , and Pithitis smaragdula (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 49: 18ndash;22.).

Nesting behavior

Anthidium florentinum have been observed nesting in above ground nesting structures near their host plants (Doroshina 1990Doroshina 1990:
Doroshina, L.P. 1990. Protection from chalcids and optimization of nesting conditions for megachilid bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 69: 55ndash;59.). This suggests they nest in preexisting cavities such as crevices or abandoned insect nests. Large males exhibit aggressive territorial behavior. Males are known for attacking other bees that enter their territory by striking them and grabbing their front legs (Batra 1978Batra 1978:
Batra, S.W.T. 1978. Aggression, territoriality, mating, and nest aggregation of some solitary bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae, Megachilidae, Colletidae, Anthophoridae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 51: 547ndash;559.).

Distribution

Anthidium florentinum is native to the Mediterranean Basin, where its range extends throughout south and central Europe, Turkey, Iran, Palestine, Syria, Central Asia, and China (Popov 1967Popov 1967:
Popov, V.B. 1967. The bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Iran. Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta Akademii nauk SSSR (Leningrad) 43: 184ndash;216.; Warncke 1980Warncke 1980:
Warncke, K. 1980. Die Bienengattung Anthidium Fabricius, 1804 in der Westpalaarktis und im turkestanischen Becken. Entomofauna 1: 119ndash;210.; Banaszak and Romasenko 1998Banaszak and Romasenko 1998:
Banaszak, J. and L. Romasenko. 1998. Megachilid bees of Europe (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Bydgoszcz University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.; Stockl 2000Stockl 2000:
Stockl, P. 2000. Synopsis der Megachilinae Nord- und Sudtirols (Osterreich, Italien) (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Berichte des naturwissenschaftlichen-medizinischen Verein Innsbruck 87: 273ndash;306.; Amiet et al. 2004Amiet et al. 2004:
Amiet, F., M. Herrmann, A. Mueller, and R. Neumeyer. 2004. Apidae 4: Anthidium , Chelostoma , Coelioxys , Dioxys , Heriades , Lithurgus , Megachile , Osmia , Stelis . Fauna Helvetica 9: 1ndash;273.; Wu 2006Wu 2006:
Wu, Y. 2006. Hymenoptera: Megachilidae. Fauna Sinica, Insecta. Vol. 4. Science Press, Beijing.; Ornosa et al. 2008Ornosa et al. 2008:
Ornosa, C., F.J. Ortiz-Sanchez, and F. Torres. 2008. Catalogo de los Megachilidae del Mediterraneo occidental (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). III. Anthidiini y Dioxyini. Grasellsia 64: 51ndash;86.; Grace 2010Grace 2010:
Grace, A. 2010. Introductory biogeography to bees of the eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Bexhill Museum, Sussex, United Kingdom.; Murao et al. 2015Murao et al. 2015:
Murao, R., O. Tadauchi, and R. Miyanaga. 2015. The bee tribe Anthidiini (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) collected from Central Asia. Japanese Journal of Systematic Entomology 21: 7ndash;12.; Discover Life 2018cDiscover Life 2018c:
Discover Life. 2018c. Anthidium florentinum (Fabricus, 1775). Discover Life. https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Anthidium+florentinumamp;flags=subgenus). They were first found in North America in Montreal, Canada in 2012 (Normandin et al. 2017Normandin et al. 2017:
Normandin, E., N.J. Vereecken, C.M. Buddle, and V. Fournier. 2017. Taxonomic and functional trait diversity of wild bees in different urban settings. PeerJ: 1ndash;35.).

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

References

Amiet, F., M. Herrmann, A. Mueller, and R. Neumeyer. 2004. Apidae 4: Anthidium, Chelostoma, Coelioxys, Dioxys, Heriades, Lithurgus, Megachile, Osmia, Stelis. Fauna Helvetica 9: 1-273.

Banaszak, J. and L. Romasenko. 1998. Megachilid bees of Europe (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Bydgoszcz University, Bydgoszcz.

Batra, S.W.T. 1976. Comparative efficiency of alfalfa pollination by Nomia melanderi, Megachile rotundata, Anthidium florentinum, and Pithitis smaragdula (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 49: 18-22.

Batra, S.W.T. 1978. Aggression, territoriality, mating, and nest aggregation of some solitary bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae, Megachilidae, Colletidae, Anthophoridae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 51: 547- 559.

Discover Life. 2018. Anthidium florentinum (Fabricus, 1775). Discover Life. https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Anthidium+florentinum&flags=subgenus:

Doroshina, L.P. 1990. Protection from chalcids and optimization of nesting conditions for megachilid bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 69: 55-59.

Gonzalez, V.H. and T.L. Griswold. 2013. Wool carder bees of the genus Anthidium in the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae): diversity, host plant associations, phylogeny, and biogeography. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 168: 221-425.

Grace, A. 2010. Introductory biogeography to bees of the eastern Mediterranean and near east. Bexhill Museum, Sussex, United Kingdom.

Keshtkar, A., A. Monfared, and M. Haghani. 2015. A survey on pollinator bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in parks and gardens of Shiraz city, Iran. Entomofauna 36: 53-64.

Müller, A. 1996. Host-plant specialization in western PalearcticPalearctic:
the largest biogeographic region; consists of Europe, Asia north of the Himalaya foothills, Northern Africa, and the northern and central parts of the Arabian Peninsula
anthidiine bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Ecological Monographs 66: 235-257.

Murao, R., O. Tadauchi, and R. Miyanaga. 2015. The bee tribe Anthidiini (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) collected from Central Asia. Japanese Journal of Systematic Entomology 21: 7-12.

Normandin, E., N.J. Vereecken, C.M. Buddle, and V. Fournier. 2017. Taxonomic and functional trait diversity of wild bees in different urban settings. PeerJ: 1-35.

Ornosa, C., F.J. Ortiz-Sanchez, and F. Torres. 2008. Catalogo de los Megachilidae del Mediterraneo occidental (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). III. Anthidiini y Dioxyini. Grasellsia 64: 51-86.

Popov, V.B. 1967. The bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Iran. Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta Akademii nauk SSSR (Leningrad) 43: 184-216.

Stockl, P. 2000. Synopsis der Megachilinae Nord-und Sudtirols (Osterreich, Italien) (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Berichte des naturwissenschaftlichen-medizinischen Verein Innsbruck 87: 273-306.

Warncke, K. 1980. Die Bienengattung Anthidium Fabricius, 1804 in der Westpalaarktis und im turkestanischen Becken. Entomofauna 1: 119:210.

Wu, Y. 2006. Hymenoptera: Megachilidae. Fauna Sinica, Insecta. Vol. 4. Science Press, Beijing.