Anthidium (Gulanthidium)

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Anthidium Fabricius, 1804
Subgenus: Gulanthidium Pasteels, 1969
Common name: none

Overview

Anthidium (Gulanthidium) are robust, elongate bees which may have black and yellow markings or be predominantly yellow (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). They range in body length from 8.5–12 mm.

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.)

• Antennae arise near the middle of the eyes, which converge slightly below.
• Hind tibiatibia:
  the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
  and hind basitarsusbasitarsus:
  the segment of the tarsus that is the nearest to the body of the bee, usually the largest of all the tarsal segments
  carinate.
• Omaulus omaulus:
  angle between anterior and lateral surfaces of mesepisternum
  carinatecarinate:
  having keels or carinae
  or lamellatelamellate:
  thin, plate-like, often somewhat translucent structure
  , at least in the dorsaldorsal:
  in general, the upper surface
  third.
• Pronotal lobe pronotal lobe:
  a part of the pronotum located dorsally on the posterior margin of the pronotum and overlaps the anterior thoracic spiracle
  lamellatelamellate:
  thin, plate-like, often somewhat translucent structure
  .
• Scutellum scutellum:
  shield shaped plate behind scutum
  posterior margin lamellatelamellate:
  thin, plate-like, often somewhat translucent structure
  laterally and overhanging metanotummetanotum:
  the posterior dorsal segment of the thorax, behind the scutellum
  .
• Scutellum scutellum:
  shield shaped plate behind scutum
  posterior margin, when viewed from above, rounded with a small 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
  is rounded or with a small 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
  .

May be confused with

Anthidium (Gulanthidium) may be confused with bees within the subgenus A. (Severanthidium) due to the carinatecarinate:
having keels or carinae
omaulus, scutellumscutellum:
shield shaped plate behind scutum
, hind tibiatibia:
the segment of the leg, between the femur and the tarsus
, and hind basitarsusbasitarsus:
the segment of the tarsus that is the nearest to the body of the bee, usually the largest of all the tarsal segments
(Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). However, A. (Gulanthidium) can be differentiated from A. (Severanthidium) by the shape of the posterior margin of the scutellumscutellum:
shield shaped plate behind scutum
. Further, the eyes of A. (Severanthidium) converge strongly below, which differs from A. (Gulanthidium), whose eyes only slightly converge below (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

Host associations

Anthidium anguliventre are specialists on Cardueae (Müller 1996); however, they have also been observed visiting Centaurea sp. (Asteraceae) and Vitex agnus-castus (Lamiaceae) (Falamarzi et al. 2017Falamarzi et al. 2017:
Falamarzi, S., B. Habibpour, M.S. Mossadegh, and A. Monfared. 2017. Species inventory of Megachilidae (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in south of Fars province, Iran. Entomofauna 38: 89ndash;104.). Floral associations for A. eremicum and A. rotundum are not known.

Nesting behavior

Nesting behavior is unknown.

Diversity

Anthidium (Gulanthidium) consists of three species: A. anguliventre, A. eremicum, and A. rotundum (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.; Discover Life 2018Discover Life 2018:
Discover Life. 2018. Anthidium (Gulanthidium) . Discover Life. https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=Gulanthidiumamp;name=Anthidiumamp;flags=subgenus:amp;mobile=1). None are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada.

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Anthidium (Gulanthidium) occur from Israel to Turkey, Iran, Oman, and Pakistan (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

Discover Life. 2018. Anthidium (Gulanthidium). Discover Life. http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=Gulanthidium&name=Anthidium&flags=subgenus:&mobile=1

Falamarzi, S., B. Habibpour, M.S. Mossadegh, and A. Monfared. 2017. Species inventory of Megachilidae (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in south of Fars province, Iran. Entomofauna 38: 89-104.

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

Muller, 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. Ecological Monographs 66: 235-257.