Saucrochile | Exotic Bee ID

Taxonomy

Family: Megachilidae
Subfamily: Megachilinae
Tribe: Megachilini
Genus: Saucrochile Gonzalez & Engel, 2019
Common name: none

Overview

Saucrochile are small, elongate bees with shiny black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
and white 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
. They range in body length from 8–11mm. The genus name is based on the Greek words “saukros” and “chile,” which can be translated to “graceful” and “tooth,” respectively (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.).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from 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 carinacarina:
a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
absent.
Pronotal lobe pronotal lobe:
a part of the pronotum located dorsally on the posterior margin of the pronotum and overlaps the anterior thoracic spiracle
rounded, not carinatecarinate:
having keels or carinae
.
Tarsal claws simple, without a basalbasal:
originating at the foundation of a structure
tooth.
Female labrumlabrum:
part of the head abutting the clypeus, folds down in front of the mouthparts
long and parallel-sided.
Female 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
with strong postgradular grooves.
Female mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
three-toothed, elongate, and without cutting edges.
Male antennae with F1 shorter than F2.
Male front coxacoxa:
the basal segment of the leg
with a small spine.
Male mandiblemandible:
bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
three-toothed, without 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
with 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
emarginate medially.
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
with four small, equidistant teeth.
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
with slightly projected 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
.

May be confused with

Saucrochile may look similar to some species of Hackeriapis in size, coloration, and elongate body shape. Saucrochile differs in the lack of a basalbasal:
originating at the foundation of a structure
tooth on the tarsal claws and the rounded pronotal lobepronotal lobe:
a part of the pronotum located dorsally on the posterior margin of the pronotum and overlaps the anterior thoracic spiracle
(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

Floral associations are unknown.

Nesting behavior

Nesting behavior is unknown.

Diversity

Saucrochile includes one species, Saucrochile heriadiformis, which was previously included in the genus Hackeriapis (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

Saucrochile are known from southeastern Australia (King 1994King 1994:
King, J. 1994. The bee family Megachilidae (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in Australia. I. Morphology of the genus Chalicodoma Lepeletier, and a revision of the subgenus Hackeriapis Cockerell. Invertebrate Taxonomy 8: 1373-1419.; Ascher and Pickering 2020Ascher and Pickering 2020:
Ascher, J.S. and J. Pickering. 2020. Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila). https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=Carinulaamp;name=Megachileamp;flags=subgenus :).

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

References

Ascher, J.S. and J. Pickering. 2020. Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila). https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Megachile+heriadiformis&mobile=close&wep=0

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.

King, J. 1994. The bee family Megachilidae (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in Australia. I. Morphology of the genus Chalicodoma Lepeletier, and a revision of the subgenus Hackeriapis Cockerell. Invertebrate Taxonomy 8: 1373-1419.