Megachile #40; Cestella #41;

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Megachile Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Cestella Pasteels, 1962
Common name: none

Overview

Megachile (Cestella) are bees with black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
and both black and white hair (Pasteels 1965Pasteels 1965:
Pasteels, J.J. 1965. Revision des Megachilidae (Hymenoptera Apoidea) de lrsquo;Afrique Noire, 1. Les Genres Creightoniella [sic], Chalicodoma et Megachile (s. str.). Annales Musee Royal de lrsquo;Afrique Central [Tervuren], Sciences Zoologiques 8: 137 -579 pp.). They range in body length from 14–17 mm (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

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.; Gonzalez 2008Gonzalez 2008:
Gonzalez, V.H. 2008. Phylogeny and classification of the bee tribe Megachilini (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae), with emphasis on the genus Megachile. Thesis: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the College of Liberal Arts and Science of the University of Kansas: 1-274.)

Female clypeusclypeus:
a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
has a large, deep, triangular, shiny, hairless area in the middle.
Female mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
is five-toothed with a straight margin between the fourth and fifth teeth, which can give the appearance of the teeth being combined as a truncatetruncate:
ending abruptly, or squared off
fourth tooth.
Female mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
with dull sculpturing.
Male eyes are unusually large with the ocellocular distance less than the interocellar distance.
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
without laterallateral:
relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
spines.
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
is denticulatedenticulate:
a small tooth-like projection
.

May be confused with

Megachile (Cestella) may be confused with Callomegachile because they both have similarly dull mandibles (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Megachile (Cestella) can be differentiated from Callomegachile by the five-toothed mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
and the shiny hairless area on the clypeusclypeus:
a section of the face below the antennae, demarcated by the epistomal sutures
of the female. Males can be differentiated by the denticulatedenticulate:
a small tooth-like projection
preapical carinacarina:
a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
of 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
(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

Floral associations are unknown.

Nesting behavior

Nesting behavior is unknown.

Diversity

Megachile (Cestella) consists of two species: M. cestifera and M. tsimbazazae (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). None are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada.

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Megachile (Cestella) is only known to occur in Madagascar (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

Gonzalez, V.H. 2008. Phylogeny and classification of the bee tribe Megachilini (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae), with emphasis on the genus Megachile. Thesis: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the College of Liberal Arts and Science of the University of Kansas: 1-274.

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

Pasteels, J.J. 1965. Révision des Megachilidae (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) de l’Afrique Noire, 1. Les Genres Creightoniella, Chalicodoma et Megachile (s. str.). Annales Musée Royal de l’Afrique Central [Tervuren], Sciences Zoologiques 137: 579 pp.

Megachile (Cestella)