Osmia maxillaris

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Osmiini
Genus: Osmia Panzer, 1806
Subgenus: O. (Osmia) Panzer, 1806
Species: Osmia maxillaris Morawitz, 1875
Common name: none

Overview

Osmia maxillaris are black bees with blue-green metallic luster. O. maxillaris have golden brown hair that covers the vertexvertex:
the area between the ocelli and the back of the head
and thorax, and the remaining hair on the legs and face is whitish. T1–T5 have whitish to yellow apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
hair bandsbands:
usually referring to bands of hair or bands of color that traverse across an abdominal segment
(Müller 2012). Hair can bleach out with time, and older bees can have gray hair (Peters 1978Peters 1978:
Peters, D.S. 1978. Systematik und Zoogeographie der west-palauml;arktischen Arten von Osmia Panzer, 1806 s. str., Monosmia Tkalcu, 1974 und Orientosmia n. subgen. (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica (Frankfurt) 58: 287ndash;346.). Female body length is 11–13 mm, and male body length is 12–14 mm (Morawitz 1876Morawitz 1876:
Morawitz, F. 1876. Zur Bienenfauna der Caucasus Lauml;nder. Horae Societatis Entomologicae Rossicae (St. Petersburg) 12: 3ndash;69.).

Diagnostic characteristics 

(modified from Peters 1978Peters 1978:
Peters, D.S. 1978. Systematik und Zoogeographie der west-palauml;arktischen Arten von Osmia Panzer, 1806 s. str., Monosmia Tkalcu, 1974 und Orientosmia n. subgen. (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica (Frankfurt) 58: 287ndash;346.; Müller 2012)

• Mouthparts long, nearly as long as the entire body when extended, and reaching past the thorax in repose.
• Terga terga:
  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 apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  hair bandsbands:
  usually referring to bands of hair or bands of color that traverse across an abdominal segment
  .
• Female clypeusclypeus:
  a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
  without laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  horns.
• 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
  white.
• Male S2S2:
  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
  and S3S3:
  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
  straight, S3S3:
  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
  lacking a hair-filled median emarginationemargination:
  a notched or cut out place in an edge or margin, can be dramatic or simply a subtle inward departure from the general curve or line of the margin or structure being described
  .
• 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
  entire and evenly convexconvex:
  curved outward
  .

May be confused with 

Osmia maxillaris looks similar enough to O. scheherazade that O. scheherazade was considered a subspecies of O. maxillaris until it was raised to species status by Müller (2012). The easiest way to distinguish these species is by the shape 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
, which is more angulateangulate:
forming an angle rather than a curve
and medially emarginateemarginate:
a notched or cut out place in an edge or margin, can be dramatic or simply a subtle inward departure from the general curve or line of the margin or structure being described
in O. scheherazade and entire and evenly convexconvex:
curved outward
in O. maxillaris.

Phenology

Osmia maxillaris adults have been recorded in flight from the middle of May to the middle of June (Peters 1978Peters 1978:
Peters, D.S. 1978. Systematik und Zoogeographie der west-palauml;arktischen Arten von Osmia Panzer, 1806 s. str., Monosmia Tkalcu, 1974 und Orientosmia n. subgen. (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica (Frankfurt) 58: 287ndash;346.).

Host associations 

Osmia maxillaris are oligolecticoligolectic:
the term used to describe bees that specialize on a narrow range of pollen sources, generally a specific plant genus
on Fabaceae and have preference for flowers with deep corolla tubes such as Astragalus (Müller 2012).

Nesting behavior 

unknown

Distribution

Osmia maxillaris specimens have been recorded in Central Asia. O. maxillaris are distributed in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan (Müller 2012).

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

References