Megachile (Megella)

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Megachile Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Megella Pasteels, 1965
Common name: none

Overview

Megachile (Megella) are elongate bees that may have black, red, or brown hairs (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.). They range in body length from 15–22 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.)

• Preoccipital carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  present laterally.
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  is broad apicallyapically:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  and four-toothed with a complete cutting edge in the third interspace.
• Female ocelloccipital distance is greater than the interocellar distance.
• Female 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
  with an apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  fringe of plumoseplumose:
  feather-like
  hairs.
• Male front legs and coxacoxa:
  the basal segment of the leg
  are unmodified.
• Male mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  has 3–4 teeth and lacks an inferior projection.
• 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 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
  .
• 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 with four teeth.

May be confused with

Megachile (Megella) may be confused with bees within the subgenera Megachile (Neocressoniella) due to both sharing the characteristics of a strong preoccipital carinacarina:
a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
behind the genagena:
the cheek or side of the head
, an elongate body, and brown to black pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
(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.). Megachile (Megella) can be differentiated from Megachile (Neocressoniella) by the shape of the abdomen, which is twice as long as wide in Megachile (Megella) (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.).

Host associations

Megachile (Megella) have been observed visiting flowers of plants in the family Lamiaceae (Kakutani et al. 1990Kakutani et al. 1990:
Kakutani, T., T. Inoue, M. Kato, and H. Ichihashi. 1990. Insect-flower relationship in the campus of Kyoto University, Kyoto: an overview of the flowering phenology and the seasonal pattern of insect visits. Contributions from the Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University 27: 465-522.).

Nesting behavior

Megachile (Megella) nest in preexisting cavities and have been observed nesting in wood (Katayama 2004Katayama 2004:
Katayama, E. 2004. Nesting biology of Megachile pseudomonticola Hedicke, with special reference to the manipulation and adhesion of leaf pieces used for cell construction. Japanese Journal of Entomology 7: 1ndash;10.). They have also been observed reusing cavities over several seasons and nesting in aggregations (Piel 1933Piel 1933:
Piel, O. 1933. Recherches biologiques sur les hymeacute;noptegrave;res vulneacute;rants du bas Yang-; Katayama 2004Katayama 2004:
Katayama, E. 2004. Nesting biology of Megachile pseudomonticola Hedicke, with special reference to the manipulation and adhesion of leaf pieces used for cell construction. Japanese Journal of Entomology 7: 1ndash;10.). Megachile (Megella) use pieces of leaves to form brood cells (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.).

Diversity

Megachile (Megella) consists of five described species (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.; 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.); none are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada.

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Megachile (Megella) are found in Africa and Southeast Asia (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.). In Africa, they range from Liberia to the Congo Basin. In Southeast Asia, they are known to occur in India and China (Cockerell and Caldwell 1927Cockerell and Caldwell 1927:
Cockerell, T.D.A. and H.R. Caldwell. 1927. Some bees, principally from Formosa and China. American Museum novitates; no. 274.; 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

Cockerell, T.D.A. and H.R. Caldwell. 1927. Some bees, principally from Formosa and China. American Museum novitates; no. 274.

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.

Kakutani, T., T. Inoue, M. Kato, and H. Ichihashi. 1990. Insect-flower relationship in the campus of Kyoto University, Kyoto: an overview of the flowering phenology and the seasonal pattern of insect visits. Contributions from the Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University 27: 465-522.

Katayama, E. 2004. Nesting biology of Megachile pseudomonticola Hedicke, with special reference to the manipulation and adhesion of leaf pieces used for cell construction. Japanese Journal of Entomology 7: 1–10.

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

Piel, O. 1933. Recherches biologiques sur les hyménoptères vulnérants du bas Yang-

Tse Apidae (Les Megachiles). Troisième Partie. Notes d’Entomologie Chinoise, Musée Heude, fasc. 12: 1–20.