Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Lophanthedon Gonzalez and Engel, 2012
Common name: none
Lophanthedon are black bees with reddish pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
. They range in body length from 12–15 mm (Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.). Previously considered a subgenus of Megachile, Lophanthedon was elevated to genus status by Gonzalez et al. (2019).
(modified from Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.)
Female Lophanthedon are likely to be confused with Pseudomegachile (Largella) due to the similar characteristics of the clypeusclypeus:
a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
, including the shape and longitudinal carinacarina:
a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
(Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.). Female Lophanthedon are also likely to be confused with Callomegachile due to the shiny and roughened mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
(Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.). Lophanthedon can be differentiated from Pseudomegachile (Largella) and Callomegachile based on the outer ridge of the mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
extending beyond the base of the mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
, the crenulatecrenulate:
having a finely scalloped or notched outline or edge
distal margin on the clypeusclypeus:
a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
, and the lamellatelamellate:
thin, plate-like, often somewhat translucent structure
distaldistal:
place on a segment that is furthest from the place of attachment with the body
margin on 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
(Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.).
Lophanthedon are known to visit flowers in the plant family Fabaceae (Karunaratne et al. 2005Karunaratne et al. 2005:
Karunaratne, W.A.I.P., J.P. Edirisinghe, and C.S. Gunatilleke. 2005. Floral relationships of bees in selected areas of Sri Lanka. Ceylon Journal of Science 34: 27-45.; Shankar et al. 2017Shankar et al. 2017:
Shankar, U., D.P. Abrol, and A.K. Singh. 2017. Plants for bees Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre. Journal of Palynology 53: 133-137.).
Although there is limited research available on Lophanthedon nesting biology, they are known to be stem-nesting bees and have been observed nesting in trap nests (Inoka et al. 2006Inoka et al. 2006:
Inoka, W.A., P. Karunaratne and J.P. Edirisinghe. 2006. Bee diversity in a semi-agricultural field - Sri Lanka. Biodiversity 6(4): 17-20.).
Lophanthedon consists of five species, none of which are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada (Gonzalez and Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.; Praz 2017Praz 2017:
Praz, C.J. 2017. Subgeneric classification and biology of the leafcutter and dauber bees (genus Megachile Latreille) of the western Palearctic (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 55: 1-54.).
There are no known invasives.
Lophanthedon are found in Southeast Asia (Ascher et al. 2016bAscher et al. 2016b:
Ascher, J.S., P. Heang, S. Kheam, K. Ly, S. Lorn, S.X. Chui, S. De Greef, G. Chartier, and S. Phauk. 2016. A report of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) of Cambodia. Cambodian Journal of Natural History 2016: 23-39.). They have been recorded in Borneo, Cambodia, southern China, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam (Bambaradeniya 2006Bambaradeniya 2006:
Bambaradeniya, C.N.B. (Editor). 2006. The Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy, Research, and Conservation. The World Conservation Union, Colombo, Sri Lanka amp; Government of Sri Lanka. viii + 308pp.; Ascher et al. 2016bAscher et al. 2016b:
Ascher, J.S., P. Heang, S. Kheam, K. Ly, S. Lorn, S.X. Chui, S. De Greef, G. Chartier, and S. Phauk. 2016. A report of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) of Cambodia. Cambodian Journal of Natural History 2016: 23-39.; Shankar et al. 2017Shankar et al. 2017:
Shankar, U., D.P. Abrol, and A.K. Singh. 2017. Plants for bees Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre. Journal of Palynology 53: 133-137.).
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Ascher, J.S., P. Heang, S. Kheam, K. Ly, S. Lorn, S.X. Chui, S. De Greef, G. Chartier, and S. Phauk. 2016. A report of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) of Cambodia. Cambodian Journal of Natural History 2016: 23-39.
Bambaradeniya, C.N.B. (Editor). 2006. The Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy, Research, and Conservation. The World Conservation Union, Colombo, Sri Lanka & Government of Sri Lanka. viii + 308pp.
Gonzalez, V.H. and M.S. Engel. 2012. African and southeast Asian Chalicodoma (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae): new subgenus, new species, and notes on the composition of Pseudomegachile and Largella. Annales Zoologici 62: 599-617.
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.
Inoka, W.A., P. Karunaratne and J.P. Edirisinghe. 2006. Bee diversity in a semi-agricultural field - Sri Lanka. Biodiversity 6(4): 17-20.
Karunaratne, W.A.I.P., J. P. Edirisinghe, and C.S. Gunatilleke. 2005. Floral relationships of bees in selected areas of Sri Lanka. Ceylon Journal of Science 34: 27-45.
Praz, C.J. 2017. Subgeneric classification and biology of the leafcutter and dauber bees (genus Megachile Latreille) of the 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
(Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 55: 1-54.
Shankar, U., D.P. Abrol, and A.K. Singh. 2017. Plants for bees Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre. Journal of Palynology 53: 133-137.
Trunz, V., L. Packer, J. Vieu, N. Arrigo, and C.J. Praz. 2016. Comprehensive phylogeny, biogeography, and new classification of the diverse bee tribe Megachilini: Can we use DNA barcodes in phylogenies of large genera? Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 103: 245-259.