Cremnomegachile

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Cremnomegachile Gonzalez & Engel, 2019
Subgenus: none
Common name: none

Overview

Cremnomegachile are elongate bees with shiny black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
, aside from their brownish legs, mandibles, and antennae (Benoist 1962Benoist 1962:
Benoist, R. 1962. Nouvelles espegrave;ces d#39;Apides malgaches [Hym.]. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of France 67(9): 214-223.). They have primarily white hair on their body and apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
bands of hair on the tergaterga:
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
(Benoist 1962Benoist 1962:
Benoist, R. 1962. Nouvelles espegrave;ces d#39;Apides malgaches [Hym.]. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of France 67(9): 214-223.). Their body length ranges from 8.5–12 mm (Benoist 1962Benoist 1962:
Benoist, R. 1962. Nouvelles espegrave;ces d#39;Apides malgaches [Hym.]. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of France 67(9): 214-223.). The subgenus gets its name from the Greek word “kremnos,” which means “overhanging wall,” referring to the projected anterioranterior:
toward the head or on the head side of a segment being described
face of the scutumscutum:
the large segment on top of the thorax located between the wings and behind the head
, and “chile,” which means “tooth” (Gonzalez et al. 2019Gonzalez et al. 2019:
Gonzalez, V.H., G.T. Gustafson, and M.S. Engel. 2019. Morphological phylogeny of Megachilini and the evolution of leaf-cutter behavior in bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Journal of Melittology (85): 1-123.).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Gonzalez et al. 2019Gonzalez et al. 2019:
Gonzalez, V.H., G.T. Gustafson, and M.S. Engel. 2019. Morphological phylogeny of Megachilini and the evolution of leaf-cutter behavior in bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Journal of Melittology (85): 1-123.)

• Preoccipital ridge preoccipital ridge:
  the carina that dorsolaterally surrounds the back of the head
  carinatecarinate:
  having keels or carinae
  laterally.
• Scutum scutum:
  the large segment on top of the thorax located between the wings and behind the head
  projected anteriorly forming an anterior-facing area medially.
• Female hypostomalhypostomal:
  the notched region underneath the head and behind the mandible that holds the folded tongue
  area with a posterior tooth.
• Female labrumlabrum:
  part of the head abutting the clypeus, folds down in front of the mouthparts
  long and triangular.
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  elongate, shiny, and four-toothed.
• Female pronotal lobepronotal lobe:
  a part of the pronotum located dorsally on the posterior margin of the pronotum and overlaps the anterior thoracic spiracle
  with a lamellatelamellate:
  thin, plate-like, often somewhat translucent structure
  ridge.
• Female sternasterna:
  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
  without apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  bands of hair.
• Female T2–T4 with distinct postgradular grooves.
• Male antennae with F1 shorter than F2.
• Male front coxacoxa:
  the basal segment of the leg
  without a spine or projection.
• Male 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
  long, about four times longer than the width.
• Male mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  tridentate without a basalbasal:
  originating at the foundation of a structure
  tooth on the lower margin.
• Male middle tibial spurtibial spur:
  apical projection(s) often found at the apex of the tibia
  present.
• Male 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
  apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  margin without teeth on the apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  margin.
• Male 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
  preapicalpreapical:
  referring to a section of a bee that is physically found just before the outermost (or apical) end of the section or segment
  carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  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
  or bilobed.

May be confused with

Cremnomegachile is similar to Stenomegachile in their elongate, shiny mandibles, the long labrumlabrum:
part of the head abutting the clypeus, folds down in front of the mouthparts
, and the toothed hypostomalhypostomal:
the notched region underneath the head and behind the mandible that holds the folded tongue
area of the female and the bilobed preapicalpreapical:
referring to a section of a bee that is physically found just before the outermost (or apical) end of the section or segment
carinacarina:
a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
of the male. The projected anterioranterior:
toward the head or on the head side of a segment being described
part of the scutumscutum:
the large segment on top of the thorax located between the wings and behind the head
of Cremnomegachile can be used to separate the two genera. In addition, females can be differentiated by the shape of the labrumlabrum:
part of the head abutting the clypeus, folds down in front of the mouthparts
, which is triangular in Cremnomegachile and parallel-sided in Stenomegachile. Males also differ from each other in the number of mandibularmandibular:
near the mandible
teeth, three in Cremnomegachile and four in Stenomegachile.

Host associations

Floral associations are unknown.

Nesting behavior

Nesting behavior is unknown.

Diversity

Cremnomegachile includes one species, Cremnomegachile dolichosoma (Gonzalez et al. 2019Gonzalez et al. 2019:
Gonzalez, V.H., G.T. Gustafson, and M.S. Engel. 2019. Morphological phylogeny of Megachilini and the evolution of leaf-cutter behavior in bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Journal of Melittology (85): 1-123.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Cremnomegachile is only known to occur in Madagascar (Pauly et al. 2001Pauly et al. 2001:
Pauly A., Brooks R.W., Nilsson L.A., Apesenko Y., Eardley C.D., Terzo M., Griswold T., Schwarz M., Munzinger J., and Y. Barbier. 2001. Hymenoptera Apoidea de Madagascar et des Iles Voisines. Annalen Zoologische Wetenschappen amp; Annales Sciences Zoologiques 286: 1ndash;406.).

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References