Rozenapis

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Rozenapis Gonzalez and Engel 2019
Common name: none

Overview

Bees in the genus Rozenapis have a black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
except for the terminal 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
of the abdomen that are reddish (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.). They are somewhat sparsely covered in white and reddish hairs, with females having laterallateral:
relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
patches of white hairs on their abdomen (Cockerell 1913Cockerell 1913:
Cockerell, T.D.A. 1913. Bees of the genus Megachile from Australia. The Entomologist 46: 164-168.; 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.). Rozenapis range in body length from 12–15 mm (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.). The bees in this genus had previously been considered members of Megachile (Hackeriapis) prior to the description of Rozenapis by Gonzalez et al. (2019).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Cockerell 1913Cockerell 1913:
Cockerell, T.D.A. 1913. Bees of the genus Megachile from Australia. The Entomologist 46: 164-168.; Prendergast 2018Prendergast 2018:
Prendergast, K.A. 2018. Nesting biology of Megachile ignita Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in artificial nesting blocks in urbanized southwestern Australia. The Australian Entomologist 45(2): 139-148.; 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.)

• Preoccipital margin is rounded.
• Terminal 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
  integumentintegument:
  a tough, protective outer layer
  reddish, in contrast to the preceding which are black.
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  four-toothed.
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  interspaces lack cutting edges.
• Female pronotal lobepronotal lobe:
  a part of the pronotum located dorsally on the posterior margin of the pronotum and overlaps the anterior thoracic spiracle
  has a transverse carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  .
• Female S1S1:
  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 large medial apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  spine.
• Female abdomen with laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  patches of white hair.
• Male S1S1:
  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
  without a spine.
• Male mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  three-toothed.
• Male hypostomalhypostomal:
  the notched region underneath the head and behind the mandible that holds the folded tongue
  area without modification or projection.
• Male tarsal claws without a basalbasal:
  originating at the foundation of a structure
  tooth.
• Male antenna with unmodified flagella, F1 shorter than F2.
• Male 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 about 4x longer than wide.
• 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
  has a deep concavity above 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
  .
• 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 wide 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
  .
• 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 has four small teeth.

May be confused with

Rozenapis share a significant range overlap and are similar in appearance to Hackeriapis, including both having reddish terminal 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
(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.). Females can be differentiated by examining S1S1:
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
, as Rozenapis have a large midapical spine on S1S1:
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 Hackeriapis do not (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.). Male Rozenapis tarsal claws lack a basalbasal:
originating at the foundation of a structure
tooth, unlike Hackeriapis which have a basalbasal:
originating at the foundation of a structure
tooth on their tarsal claws (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.).

Host associations

Through observation and pollen analysis of nest provisions, Rozenapis has been associated with flowers of Fabaceae and with the genus Jacksonia in particular (Prendergast 2018Prendergast 2018:
Prendergast, K.A. 2018. Nesting biology of Megachile ignita Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in artificial nesting blocks in urbanized southwestern Australia. The Australian Entomologist 45(2): 139-148.). Additionally, they are known to collect nesting material from flowers of Banksia species (Proteaceae) (Prendergast 2018Prendergast 2018:
Prendergast, K.A. 2018. Nesting biology of Megachile ignita Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in artificial nesting blocks in urbanized southwestern Australia. The Australian Entomologist 45(2): 139-148.).

Nesting behavior

Rozenapis have been observed nesting in trap nests, and they likely nest in other pre-existing cavities (Prendergast 2018Prendergast 2018:
Prendergast, K.A. 2018. Nesting biology of Megachile ignita Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in artificial nesting blocks in urbanized southwestern Australia. The Australian Entomologist 45(2): 139-148.). They build their nests with masticated leaf material, resin, and material from Banksia plants, including parts of flowers and downy hairs collected from the plant (Prendergast 2018Prendergast 2018:
Prendergast, K.A. 2018. Nesting biology of Megachile ignita Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in artificial nesting blocks in urbanized southwestern Australia. The Australian Entomologist 45(2): 139-148.).

Diversity

Rozenapis is monotypic; R. ignita is the only species in the genus (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

Rozenapis is found only in Australia. (Prendergast 2018Prendergast 2018:
Prendergast, K.A. 2018. Nesting biology of Megachile ignita Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in artificial nesting blocks in urbanized southwestern Australia. The Australian Entomologist 45(2): 139-148.; 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.).

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

References

Cockerell, T.D.A. 1913. Bees of the genus Megachile from Australia. The Entomologist 46: 164-168.

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.

Prendergast, K.A. 2018. Nesting biology of Megachile ignita Smith, 1853 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in artificial nesting blocks in urbanized southwestern Australia. The Australian Entomologist 45(2): 139-148.