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Coelioxys porterae Cockerell, 1900
Coelioxys dubitata var melanopoda Viereck, 1916; Coelioxys hypodonta Cockerell, 1925

Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Megachilidae   Coelioxys
Subgenus: Boreocoelioxys

Coelioxys porterae, male, side 2012-07-09-18.25.35
© Copyright source/photographer · 9
Coelioxys porterae, male, side 2012-07-09-18.25.35

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Coelioxys porterae, male, face
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Coelioxys porterae, male, face
Coelioxys porterae, male, side
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Coelioxys porterae, male, side

Coelioxys porterae, male, top
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Coelioxys porterae, male, top
Coelioxys porterae, male, wing
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Coelioxys porterae, male, wing

Coelioxys porterae, female, face
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Coelioxys porterae, female, face
Coelioxys porterae, female, side
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Coelioxys porterae, female, side

Coelioxys porterae, female, top
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Coelioxys porterae, female, top
Coelioxys porterae, female, wing
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Coelioxys porterae, female, wing

Coelioxys porterae fem lat comp ps
© Copyright Laurence Packer 2014 · 7
Coelioxys porterae fem lat comp ps
Coelioxys porterae male lat comp ps
© Copyright Laurence Packer 2014 · 7
Coelioxys porterae male lat comp ps

Coelioxys porterae, f on Solidag --
Michael Veit · 6
Coelioxys porterae, f on Solidag --
Coelioxys porterae, male, back
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Coelioxys porterae, male, back

Coelioxys porterae, male, face
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Coelioxys porterae, male, face
Coelioxys porterae, Barcode of Life Data Systems
Barcode of Life Data Systems · 1
Coelioxys porterae, Barcode of Life Data Systems
Overview
Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1962 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 152.


FEMALE—Length 9-11 mm.; largely black, including the legs, but tegulae more brownish piceous; eyes slightly convergent below; lateral ocelli subequally distant from margin of vertex and each other, much more distant from eyes; cheeks subequal to eyes in width, carinate posteriorly, the marginal carina becoming very high toward the inferior angle; clypeus nearly flat, apical margin about straight, finely crenulate, without a distinct, apical fringe; median length of labrum about equal to basal width; upper surface of mandibles swollen medially, resulting in an obscure, submedian angle, middle tooth rather low but distinct; punctures coarse, deep and distinct, only slightly separated across vertex, cheeks becoming coarsely rugoso-punctate, more finely so below, face just below anterior ocellus rather coarsely rugose, becoming finely so below antennae and on clypeus, a short, longitudinal, raised line between the antennae; pubescence entirely pale, quite short on head, somewhat more elongate around antennae and on cheeks below, somewhat yellowish, subappressed but rather thin over clypeus, rather copious along margins of pleura but not forming definite fasciae, rather copious around wing bases and on posterior face of propodeum; transverse carina of tubercle very low and inconspicuous, barely evident beneath pubescence; posterior margin of scutellum slightly curved, posterior face not sharply differentiated from the dorsal face; axillae acute, projecting from lateral margins of scutellum, but not exceeding its median length (fig. 64); front coxal spines very short but distinct, bearing a tuft of elongate, pale hairs posteriorly; wings hyaline at base, becoming lightly infuscated apically, recurrent veins reaching 2nd submarginal cell subequally distant from base and apex; punctures of scutum coarse and deep, slightly separated across median portion of disc between notaulices, but elsewhere very close; scutellum rather coarsely rugoso-punctate, axillae somewhat more finely so; pleura closely and coarsely but rather shallowly punctate, with only very narrow, intervening spaces evident, becoming coarsely and densely rugose below tegulae; lateral faces of propodeum dull and densely tessellate hut rather smooth, posterior face dull but with more evident but extremely minute punctures, dorsal area narrowly smooth and velvety, but becoming finely rugose along upper margin; basal abdominal tergum somewhat shining medially, punctures deep and distinct but rather fine and close, apical margin narrowly depressed, white fasciate toward sides; transverse grooves of terga 2 and 3 complete, distinct but rather shallow, submedian in position but becoming more nearly basal at sides, punctures on the basal side deep and distinct, but rather fine, regularly close but not crowded, surface toward the apical margin much more sparsely punctate and shining, margins deeply depressed and white fasciate, fascia thin but evident medially; terga 4 and 5 with fine and rather close punctures toward base, becoming sparse toward apical margin, this abruptly and narrowly depressed, more or less whitish fasciate; apical part of tergum 6 rather abruptly narrowed, the sides incurved but not angulate, a narrow, median, impunctate line from base toward the apex, which is continuous with a median raised ridge apically, rather deeply depressed on each side of this, the tip narrowly rounded, surface toward the base shining, finely, closely and distinctly punctate, punctures becoming densely crowded toward tip (fig. 65); sternum 6 narrow and elongate reaching much beyond the tergum, sides distinctly but rather finely notched toward apex, this part somewhat longer than width at the notches, very narrowly rounded apically; sterna 1-4 shining, rather coarsely and quite deeply punctate, punctures somewhat separated medially, becoming close laterally, apical margins very narrowly depressed, thinly white fasciate; sternum 5 broadly triangular, with a more or less pointed apex, narrowly fasciate along margin, closely but distinctly punctate at base, the punctures becoming minute and crowded apically, the more apical part of the disc densely tessellate, without evident punctures.

MALE—Length 9-12 mm.; largely black, including legs, tegulae more brownish to piceous; eyes slightly convergent below; lateral ocelli subequally distant from margin of vertex and each other, considerably more distant from eyes; cheeks slightly broader than eyes, carinate posteriorly, with a very broad, shallowly concave area below, posterior margin of this produced to form a rounded, carinate tubercle, surface of the concavity shining, impunctate and bare; clypeus nearly flat, apical margin nearly straight, with 4 or 5 low tubercles; median length of labrum about equal to basal width; median tooth of mandible distinct; punctures coarse and deep, distinctly but not widely separated across vertex, cheeks more coarsely rugoso-punctate above, becoming more finely and irregularly so below, face between antennae and ocelli coarsely rugoso-punctate, becoming finely so below antennae and on clypeus; pubescence entirely pale on head and thorax, rather copious over front of face and on clypeus, on cheeks below, over most of pleura and propodeum, very thin but erect and rather elongate on dorsum of thorax; transverse carina on tubercles very low and inconspicuous, largely obscured by pubescence; posterior margin of scutellum slightly outcurved, posterior face not sharply differentiated from dorsal face; axillae acute, projecting distinctly from sides of scutellum, but not exceeding median length of scutellum; front coxal spines quite long and erect, subcarinate, the tips broadly rounded, long white pubescent posteriorly; wings subhyaline basally, becoming faintly infuscated apically, recurrent veins reaching 2nd submarginal cell subequally distant from base and apex; scutum coarsely, closely and deeply punctate throughout, being somewhat more coarse and distinct in center posteriorly, becoming very fine and densely crowded between notaulices and tegulae; scutellum coarsely rugoso-punctate, the axillae somewhat more finely so; pleura rather coarsely but shallowly rugoso-punctate or reticulate; lateral faces of propodeum smooth but dull, posterior face dull but with rather close, minute and obscure punctures evident, dorsal area velvety, becoming very finely striate along upper margin; basal abdominal tergum shining, punctures deep and distinct, slightly separated in center, becoming very close toward sides, apical margin slightly depressed toward sides where they are white fasciate; transverse grooves of terga 2 and 8 complete, submedian along center but becoming somewhat more basal laterally, basal area deeply, distinctly and rather coarsely and regularly punctate, while the apical area is more shining and sparsely punctate medially, punctures becoming very close and rather fine at extreme sides, apical margins rather abruptly and deeply depressed, densely white fasciate laterally, becoming very thin medially; tergum 2 with a pair of broad, shallow foveae, adjacent punctures minute and densely crowded; tergum 4 with a more basal and shallow, transverse groove, punctures somewhat similar to 2 and 3, apical margin quite deeply depressed, subhyaline, fasciate as the others; tergum 5 thinly fasciate across the base as well as across the depressed apex, punctures rather close toward base, becoming more sparse toward the depressed margin; tergum 6 fasciate along the base, surface very closely and finely punctate, with a deep, median, subapical concavity, the dorsal projections very short, subtriangular, with rounded apex, strongly divergent, ventral spines more elongate, narrow and acute, intervening emargination broadly rounded, lateral spines distinct and acute (fig. 66) sterna 1-4 shining closely, deeply, regularly and rather coarsely punctate, apical margins rather deeply depressed, subhyaline, densely white fasciate; disc of sternum 4 not appreciably emarginate apically, but depressed margin with a very small, inconspicuous, median emargination; sternum 5 submembraneous, largely hidden, apical margin broadly and shallowly incurved medially; sterna 6 and 8 entirely retracted, 8 somewhat narrowed apically, the apex narrowly rounded; gonocoxites of genital armature much exceeding penis valves in length, somewhat compressed, bearing numerous elongate setae along outer surface to the tip.


DISTRIBUTION—Alberta to Nova Scotia, in Canada, Wisconsin to Maine, south to North Carolina; April to August.
FLOWER RECORDS — Baptisia, Coreopsis, Galax, Geranium, Houstonia, Hydrangea, Polygala, Pycnanthemum, Rubus, and Vaccinium.
HOST—Megachile relativa.






Extracted from: Baker J.R., (1975). Taxonomy of Five Nearctic Subgenera of Coelioxys (Hymenoptera; Megachilidae). The University of Kansas Science Bulletin Vol. 50, No. 12, pp.649-730.


FEMALE. Agrees with description and figures of Coelioxys rufitarsis except as follows: (1) Length 9-145 mm; (2) integument granular on vertex between punctures, rugulose on thorax, faintly rugulose on metasoma; black; tegula, venter of metasoma black to piceous; (3) pubescence white to faintly brownish on clypeus; (4) ocular hairs of medium length (about 0.1 mm); (5) clypeus also with erect setae (about 0.16 mm long) scattered on surface; (7) paraocular area obscured laterally by setae up to 0.4 mm long; (11) ocelloccipital distance slightly greater than interocellar distance and much less than ocellocular distance; (13) gena with ventral angle less than 90°; (14) hypostomal area of gena with setae subequal to setae on disc; (15) mandible with hump on middle of outer surface (Fig. 22F); (18) scutellum with posterior margin of dorsal surface slightly less rounded than shown in Figure 21; (19) axilla as or slightly less produced than shown in Figure 21; (20) metanotal setae erect; (22) terga 2 and 3 posterolaterally less closely punctured than shown in Figure 21; tergum 6 less conspicuously angled than shown in Figure 21 (Fig. 24J); sternum 6 lanceolate apically (Fig. 24J).

MALE. Agrees with description and figures of Coelioxys rufitarsis except as follows: (24) Length 9-12 mm; (25) integument black; tegula, legs distal to coxae, venter of metasoma black to piccous; (26) pubescence white, golden on tarsi; (27) ocular hairs of medium length (about 0.13 mm); (28) clypeus obscured by copious setae about 0.5 mm long; (31) rest of face closely punctured up to ocellar area, almost obscured by setae up to 0.7 mm long; (37) hypostomal area of gena with setae on anterior portion of excavation shorter than on disc; (41-43) scutellum, axilla, metanotum as in female (18- 20 above); (45) terga 1-5 with apical fascia sparse but complete; gradular grooves of terga 5 and 6 fasciate; fovea on tergum 2 about 0.1 mm long, about 0.25 mm (Fig. 25E); dorsal spines of sternum 5 with denticles slightly more conspicuous than shown in Fig. 25C.
HOST RECORDS. Mitchell (1962) listed M. relativa as a host of C. porterae. A bee from Pibrach, Alberta was reared from the nest of M. frigida by Dr. G. A. Hobbs. Hobbs also collected two females at a log in which M. frigida was nesting in Scandia, Alberta.
DISTRIBUTION AND SEASON OF FLIGHT. Coelioxys porterae ranges across southern Canada and down the major mountain ranges of the United States (Fig. 33). This bee is in flight at least from June 1 (Massachusetts) to September 9 (Medicine Hat, Alberta).
HABITAT. In the Southwest C. porterae occurs only at higher elevations in areas classified as various western needle- leaf forests. From central California northward it occurs in areas classified as western needleleaf forests and western shrub and grasslands. In the Northeast and mountains of the Southeast, C. porterae occurs in areas classified as eastern needle- leaf and broadleaf forests and combinations of these two vegetation types.
GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION. The variation described above does not seem to be related to geography.
COMPARATIVE COMMENTS. Coelioxys porterae is most likely to be confused with dark specimens of C. octodentata from which it can be distinguished by the medium length of the ocular hairs (short in C. octodentata) in females and the larger fovea of the second metasomal tergum (Fig. 2SF) in males (small in C. octodentata, Fig. 25G). Another similar bee is C. sodalis which has long ocular hairs and no subapical notches on the sixth sternum in the female and no foveae on the second tergum in the male.

Names
Scientific source:

Supported by

Hosts · map
FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Asteraceae  Aster @ AMNH_BEE (1)

Encelia farinosa @ BBSL__KWC (1)

Solidago sp @ BBSL (1)
Ericaceae  Vaccinium stamineum @ CUIC_ENT (1)
Fabaceae  Tephrosia virginiana @ AMNH_BEE (7)
_  Withheld @ BBSL__YOSE (1); BBSL (1)

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Updated: 2024-03-28 22:08:12 gmt
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