Megachile (Creightonella)

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Megachile Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Creightonella Cockerell, 1908
Common name: none

Overview

Megachile (Creightonella) are bees with black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
and black, golden-yellow, or white pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
that sometimes form apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
hair bandsbands:
usually referring to bands of hair or bands of color that traverse across an abdominal segment
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
(Gupta 1989Gupta 1989:
Gupta, R.K. 1989. A new species of genus Creightonella Cockerell, (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae), from central India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 86: 416-419.). They range in body length from 11–23 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.; 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.)

• Female 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
  is slender and three times longer than the width.
• Hind tarsal claws with only one long apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  setae.
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  is five- or six-toothed with incomplete cutting edges in mandibularmandibular:
  near the mandible
  interspaces two to four.
• Male front coxacoxa:
  the basal segment of the leg
  with a strong tooth and a rounded projection.
• Male front tarsitarsi:
  the group of segments at the end of the leg following the tibia
  not expanded or otherwise modified.
• Male mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  with basalbasal:
  originating at the foundation of a structure
  projection on the lower margin.
• Male S6S6:
  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
  is apicallyapically:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  convex with a weakly sclerotizedsclerotized:
  hardened by the formation of sclerotin, specifically the exoskeleton of an insect
  apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  projection which covers the apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  margin of 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
  .
• 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 strongly denticulatedenticulate:
  a small tooth-like projection
  , sometimes with a 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 large and exposed; when a longitudinal carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  is present, the apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  margin is pointed or triangular. If the margin is rounded, they have a ventrally projected basalbasal:
  originating at the foundation of a structure
  spine.

May be confused with

Megachile (Creightonella) is not likely to be confused with other subgenera due to several unique diagnostic characters. Females can be separated from other Megachile subgenera by the combination of their five- or six-toothed mandibles with cutting edges in interspaces two to four and a hind tarsal claw with only one elongate setaseta:
a still hair-like structure or bristle
(Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Males have a distinctly shaped 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
and the unique feature of often having both S5S5:
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
and S6S6:
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
exposed (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

Megachile (Creightonella) are polylecticpolylectic:
bees that collect pollen from the flowers of a variety of unrelated plants
on flowers of Acanthaceae, Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Orchidaceae, Papilionaceae, and Rubiaceae (Özbek 1979Ouml;zbek 1979:
Ouml;zbek, H. 1979. Bees of the genera Anthidium, Anthocopa, Hoplitis, and Megachile (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae) in some parts of Easter Anatolia. Tuuml;rkiye Bitki Koruma Dergisi 3: 95-107.; Özbek and Zanden 1994Ouml;zbek and Zanden 1994:
Ouml;zbek, H. and G. van der Zanden. 1994. A preliminary review of the Megachilidae of Turkey Part IV. Megachilini and Lithurgini (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Tuuml;rkiye Entomoloji Dergisi 18: 157-174.; Gikungu 2006Gikungu 2006:
Gikungu, M.W. 2006. Bee diversity and some aspects of their ecological interactions with plants in a successional tropical community. Apidologie 40(3): 355-366.; Ascher et al. 2016aAscher et al. 2016a:
Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2016(32): 33-55.).

Nesting behavior

Megachile (Creightonella) nest in pre-existing cavities in soil and hollow plant stems, as well as in burrows they excavate in soil (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). Brood cells are comprised of leaves, resin, and masticated foliage. Nest plugs are constructed out of masticated leaf pulp and pebbles (Michener and Szent-Ivany 1960Michener and Szent-Ivany 1960:
Michener, C.D. and J.J.H. Szent-Ivany. 1960. Observations on the biology of a leafcutter bee Megachile frontalis in New Guinea. Papua and New Guinea Agricultural Journal 13: 22-35.; Willmer and Stone 1989Willmer and Stone 1989:
Willmer, P.G. and G.N. Stone. 1989. Incidence of entomophilous pollination of lowland coffee ( Coffea canephora ); the role of leaf cutter bees in Papua New Guinea. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 50: 113-124.).

Diversity

Megachile (Creightonella) consists of 57 species (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.; Eardley 2012Eardley 2012:
Eardley C.A. 2012. Taxonomic revision of the southern African species of dauber bees in the genus Megachile Latreille (Apoidea: Megachilidae). Zootaxa: 3460(1): 1-65.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Megachile (Creightonella) occur throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. They are also found in parts of Asia, including India, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and New Guinea (Michener 1962aMichener 1962a:
Michener, C.D. 1962. Observations on the classification of the bees commonly placed in the genus Megachile (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of the New York Entomological Society 70: 17-29.; Comba and Comba 1991Comba and Comba 1991:
Comba, L. and M. Comba. 1991. Catalogo Degli Apoidei Laziali (Hymenoptera; Aculeta). Fragmenta Entomologica 22: 82-117.; Banaszak and Romasenko 1998Banaszak and Romasenko 1998:
Banaszak, J. and L. Romasenko. 1998. Megachilid bees of Europe (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Megachilidae). Bydgoszcz University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.; Ascher et al. 2016aAscher et al. 2016a:
Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E.J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2016(32): 33-55.; 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.).

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

References

Ascher, J.S., S. Risch, Z.W. Soh, J.X. Lee, and E J. Soh. 2016. Megachile leaf-cutter and resin bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology: 33-55.

Banaszak, J. and L. Romasenko. 1998. Megachilid bees of Europe. Pedagogical University of Bydgoszcz, Poland: 239 pp.

Comba, L. and M. Comba. 1991. Catalogo Degli Apoidei Laziali (Hymenoptera; Aculeta). Fragmenta Entomologica 22: 82-117.

Eardley, C. 2012. A taxonomic revision of the southern African species of the subgenus Creightonella Cockerell (Apoidea: Megachilidae: Megachile Latreille). Zootaxa 3159: 1-35.

Gikungu, M.W., 2006. Bee diversity and some aspects of their ecological interactions with plants in a successional tropical community. Doctoral Dissertation, Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn: 193 pp.

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.

Gupta, R.K. 1989. A new species of genus Creightonella Cockerell, (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae), from central India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 86: 416-419.

Michener, C.D. and J.J.H. Szent-Ivany. 1960. Observations on the biology of a leafcutter bee Megachile frontalis in New Guinea. Papua and New Guinea Agricultural Journal 13: 22-35.

Michener, C.D. 1962. Observations on the classification of the bees commonly placed in the genus Megachile (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of the New York Entomological Society 70: 17-29.

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

Özbek, H. 1979. Bees of the genera Anthidium, Anthocopa, Hoplitis, and Megachile (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae) in some parts of Easter Anatolia. Türkiye Bitki Koruma Dergisi 3: 95-107.

Özbek, H. and G. van der Zanden. 1994. A preliminary review of the Megachilidae of Turkey Part IV. Megachilini and Lithurgini (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Türkiye Entomoloji Dergisi 18: 157-174.

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.

Willmer, P.G. and G.N. Stone. 1989. Incidence of entomophilous pollination of lowland coffee (Coffea canephora); the role of leaf cutter bees in Papua New Guinea. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 50: 113-124.