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Megachile (Aporiochile)

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Megachile Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Aporiochile Gonzalez and Engel 2018
Common name: none

Overview

Megachile (Aporiochile) have black and reddish-brown integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
 which is generally visible through their sparse yellow-tan and white hairs (Cockerell 1927Cockerell 1927:
Cockerell, T.D. 1927. Megachilid bees from Bolivia collected by the Mulford Biological Expedition, 1921-22. Proceedings of the United States National Museum.; Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.). Males range in body length from 7–9 mm; females are currently unknown (Cockerell 1927Cockerell 1927:
Cockerell, T.D. 1927. Megachilid bees from Bolivia collected by the Mulford Biological Expedition, 1921-22. Proceedings of the United States National Museum.; Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.). The single identified species in this subgenus had previously been considered a member of Megachile (Rhyssomegachile) prior to the description of Megachile (Aporiochile) by Gonzalez et al. (2018).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.)

Note: Only males are known from this subgenus.

  • Male preoccipital carinacarina:
    a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
     strong both dorsally and laterally.
  • Male antenna with unmodified flagellum; F1 shorter than F2.
  • Male mandiblemandible:
    bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
     three-toothed.
  • Male mid tibial spurtibial spur:
    apical projection(s) often found at the apex of the tibia
    present.
  • Male fore coxacoxa:
    the basal segment of the leg
     with spine.
  • Male scutumscutum:
    the large segment on top of the thorax located between the wings and behind the head
    punctures are well-spaced.
  • 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
     strong 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
    .

May be confused with

Male Megachile (Aporiochile) may be confused with bees within the subgenus Megachile (Ptilosarus) as both have a preoccipital carinacarina:
a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
 that extends dorsally (Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.). They can be differentiated by examining the forecoxaforecoxa:
coxa of the front pair of legs
for a spine, which is present on Megachile (Aporiochile), but absent on Megachile (Ptilosarus) (Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.). Additionally, Megachile (Aporiochile) has spaced punctures on the scutumscutum:
the large segment on top of the thorax located between the wings and behind the head
, whereas Megachile (Ptilosarus) has contiguous punctationpunctation:
overall pattern of the punctures on a surface of a bee, includes size of punctures and the distance between them
(Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.).

Host associations

The floral resources used by Megachile (Aporiochile) are currently unknown.

Nesting behavior

The nesting biology of Megachile (Aporiochile) is not yet known (Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.). They are considered members of Group 1, as defined by Michener (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp., 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.). Group 1 bees, including closely related subgenera like Megachile (Ptilosarus), typically construct nests in pre-existing cavities using pieces of cut leaves (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.; Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.; 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.).

Diversity

Megachile (Aporiochile) is a monotypic subgenus consisting of one species: M. tricosa (Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Megachile (Aporiochile) is a South American subgenus which has been recorded in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru (Gonzalez et al. 2018Gonzalez et al. 2018:
Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile ) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile , with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.).

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

References

Cockerell, T.D. 1927. Megachilid bees from Bolivia collected by the Mulford Biological Expedition, 1921-22. Proceedings of the United States National Museum.

Gonzalez, V.H., T. Griswold, and M.S. Engel. 2018. South American leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile) of the subgenera Rhyssomegachile and Zonomegachile, with two new subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018(425): 1-74.

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.

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