Megachile (Neocressoniella)

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Megachile Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Neocressoniella Gupta, 1993
Common name: none

Overview

Megachile (Neocressoniella) are elongate bees with black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
and almost entirely dark brown or black hair. They range in body length from 12–21 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.)

• 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 four-toothed.
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  outer acetabular groove with a tuft of orange hairs near the apexapex:
  end of any structure
  .
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  with incomplete cutting edge in second interspace and complete cutting edge in the third interspace. The cutting edge in the third interspace is twice as long as the incomplete cutting edge in the second interspace.
• Male front coxacoxa:
  the basal segment of the leg
  without a spine.
• Male front tarsitarsi:
  the group of segments at the end of the leg following the tibia
  are not expanded or modified.
• Male mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  is four-toothed and lacks a basalbasal:
  originating at the foundation of a structure
  projection on the lower margin.
• 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 large and has a small 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 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 a slender, sharp laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  tooth as well as a broad sub-median tooth.

May be confused with

Megachile (Neocressoniella) may be confused with bees within the subgenera Megachile (Megella) as both have 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
(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 (Neocressoniella) can be differentiated from Megachile (Megella) by their less elongate body and almost entirely dark brown or black 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.).

Host associations

Megachile (Neocressoniella) are known to visit flowers from the plant families Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, and Lythraceae (Kumari and Kumar 2016Kumari and Kumar 2016:
Kumari, P. and N.R. Kumar. 2016. Studies on Megachile Latreille subgenus Neocressoniella Gupta (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) from Chandigarh and Punjab plains. Journal of Global Biosciences 5(3): 3751-3759.).

Nesting behavior

Nesting behavior is unknown.

Diversity

Megachile (Neocressoniella) includes three described species: M. anthracina, M. carbonaria, and M. elizabethae (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.; Kumari and Kumar 2016Kumari and Kumar 2016:
Kumari, P. and N.R. Kumar. 2016. Studies on Megachile Latreille subgenus Neocressoniella Gupta (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) from Chandigarh and Punjab plains. Journal of Global Biosciences 5(3): 3751-3759.); none are known to occur in the U.S. or Canada. Placement of these species has been questioned, and it is possible that M. (Neocressoniella) is monotypic and only includes M. carbonaria (Baker and Engel 2006Baker and Engel 2006:
Baker, D.B. and Engel, M.S. 2006. A new subgenus of Megachile from Borneo with arolia (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). American Museum Novitates 3505: 1ndash;12.; 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.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

Distribution

Megachile (Neocressoniella) occurs throughout India and east to Burma (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

Baker, D.B. and M.S Engel. 2006. A new subgenus of Megachile from Borneo with aroliaarolia:
the cushion-like pad between the tarsal claws found at the ends of some bees' legs
(Hymenoptera, Megachilidae). American Museum Novitates 3505: 1-12.

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, 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.

Kumari, P. and N.R. Kumar. 2016. Studies on Megachile Latreille subgenus Neocressoniella Gupta (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) from Chandigarh and Punjab plains. Journal of Global Biosciences 5(3): 3751-3759.

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