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Megachile brimleyi Mitchell, 1926
Megachile (Xeromegachile) brimleyi Mitchell, 1926

Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Megachilidae   Megachile
Subgenus: Megachiloides

Megachile brimleyi, male, face
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Megachile brimleyi, male, face

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Megachile brimleyi, male, side
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Megachile brimleyi, male, side
Megachile brimleyi, male, top
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Megachile brimleyi, male, top

Megachile brimleyi, male, wing
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department · 9
Megachile brimleyi, male, wing
Megachile brimleyi, female, mandibles
© NC Agriculture State Experiment Station Technical Bulletin Number 152, T. B. Mitchell, 1962 · 1
Megachile brimleyi, female, mandibles
Overview
FEMALE—Length 12 mm.; entirely black including tegulae and legs, mid and hind spurs brownish; eyes subparallel; clypeal margin very slightly incurved, minutely denticulate; mandibles 4-dentate, a bevelled edge between the 3rd and 4th teeth (fig. 47); lateral ocelli very slightly nearer eyes than to margin of vertex; cheeks slightly narrower than eyes; vertex somewhat shining, punctures deep and distinct, quite close and rather fine medially, becoming quite sparse on each side, rather fine and close on cheeks above, becoming somewhat coarser and more widely separated below; face below anterior ocellus with quite distinct and close punctures, becoming very close and fine between antennae and eyes, deep, distinct and slightly separated on supraclypeal area, upper margin of clypeus very finely and closely punctate, becoming rather irregularly and more coarsely punctate apically; pubescence largely whitish on head, rather short and dense around antennae, on sides of face and on cheeks below, rather short and thin on cheeks above and across vertex, entirely white on thorax laterally and posteriorly, very dense around tubercles beneath tegulae, and to some degree behind wing bases; scutum and scutellum with very short, erect and rather thin, fuscous pubescence, becoming more or less whitish on scutum anteriorly, and with a pair of oblique, rather short, dense lines of whitish tomentum, a small spot of tomentum back of each tegula and a line of tomentum in the scutello-mesothoracic suture; scutum rather dull, quite closely and deeply punctate throughout, punctures slightly separated in center, those on scutellum uniformly very close and somewhat finer, rather fine and densely crowded on axillae; pleura with densely crowded, rather fine punctures above, but these becoming more coarse, shallow and rather widely separated below; lateral faces of propodeum somewhat shining, with very shallow but rather close punctures evident, posterior face with scattered, very minute and obscure punctures; mid and hind basitarsi almost as broad as their tibiae, but distinctly shorter; tegulae very minutely and closely punctate; wings subhyaline, becoming slightly clouded apically, veins brownish; abdominal terga 2 and 3 shallowly grooved across base, basal margin of the grooves only subcarinate, apical margins of terga rather distinctly depressed laterally, very obscurely so, if at all, medially; terga 1-5 with dense, entire but rather narrow, whitish, apical fasciae, discal pubescence of basal tergum rather copious, long and erect, entirely whitish, that on following terga very short, inconspicuous and largely fuscous; punctures very fine and close on terga 1 and 2, becoming somewhat more distinct but still fine on 3-5, 6 about straight in profile, with a few suberect, pale hairs evident in profile, largely covered with pale tomentum in dorsal view, punctures very fine and densely crowded throughout; sternum 6 quite well covered with dark, scopal hairs, apical fringe short and dense; scopa otherwise creamy-white, with a few black hairs across apex of sternum 5, the more basal sterna very closely and finely punctate, punctures becoming somewhat more coarse and sparse apically, apical margins narrowly hyaline, no sternal fasciae evident.

MALE—Length 10-11 mm.; black, tegulae more brownish-testaceous, front tarsi pale yellowish, mid and hind spurs brownish-testaceous; eyes very slightly convergent below; median third of clypeal margin very slightly produced; mandibles 3-dentate, inferior process sub-basal, slender and acute; apical segment of flagellum very slightly dilated; lateral ocelli very slighty nearer eyes than to margin of vertex; cheeks somewhat narrower than eyes, obscurely angulate below; vertex shining, punctures deep and distinct, rather coarse and well separated laterally, becoming slightly closer medially and between ocelli, close and fine on cheeks punctures below anterior ocellus slightly separated, rather coarse, becoming fine and densely crowded on lower portions of face and clypeus beneath dense pubescence; pubescence creamy-white, quite dense on face around and below antennae, more whitish on cheeks, thin above, somewhat more elongate below, short and thin but largely pale on vertex; thorax with rather copious, somewhat elongate, white pubescence laterally and posteriorly, scutum in large part covered with very short thin, black pubescence, becoming somewhat more elongate and whitish anteriorly, with a pair of slightly oblique lines of pale tomentum anteriorly, the scutello-mesothoracic suture white tomentose, and scutellum with a few dark hairs interspersed in the generally pale and more elongate pubescence; punctures of scutum and scutellum quite deep and distinct, slightly separated only in center of scutum, moderately coarse, somewhat finer but uniformly slightly separated on scutellum, fine and close on axillae; pleura dull, punctures rather shallow but contiguous, becoming quite densely crowded above; lateral faces of propodeum somewhat smoother but very shallowly, obscurely and closely punctate, posterior face with very minute, vague and close punctures; front coxal spines very broad at base, subtriangular and somewhat flattened, tips narrowly rounded, densely long white pubescent posteriorly and with a small patch of short, testaceous bristles at base, coxae otherwise bare and shining; front tarsi pale yellow, faintly brownish along margins and toward apex, basitarsus slightly dilated but not equalling the tibiae in width, rather shallowly excavated anteriorly, posterior fringe entirely pale, quite dense but rather short; front tibiae piceous on outer face, more or less testaceous on the other two faces; front femora piceous on posterior face, becoming brownish toward the subcarinate lower margin, anterior surface highly polished and testaceous; mid tarsi narrow, not much modified, but with a very long, white, posterior fringe; mid tibial spurs well developed; hind basitarsi quite short and slender; tegulae minutely and closely punctate; wings subhyaline, veins brownish-piceous; abdominal terga 2-5 shallowly depressed across base, basal margins of these subcarinate, apical margins of 1-5 with complete, dense, white tomentose fasciae, these rather narrow, and margins distinctly depressed laterally on the more basal terga, more completely depressed on the more apical terga; tergum 1 with rather elongate, thin, entirely whitish pubescence, discal pubescence of 2-5 very short, suberect and largely fuscous; punctures of terga very fine and close basally, becoming somewhat more distinctly separated but still quite close on the more apical terga; tergum 6 thinly pale tomentose, punctures close but rather irregular, carina broadly rounded, with no evidence of a median emargination, median teeth of apical margin broadly carinate, somewhat nearer the small, acute lateral angles than to each other; tergum 7 largely hidden, transverse and not produced medially; sterna 1-4 exposed, punctures rather fine but well separated, especially on the more apical sterna, apical margins rather abruptly depressed, yellowish-hyaline, thinly fasciate, hairs elongate and entirely pale; sternum 5 with well defined, lateral, pubescent, apical plates, area between filled by the rather broad and expansive setose area, setae rather sparse, simple along apical margin but becoming robust, elongate and apically dilated toward base, apical margin with a median, dense tuft of fine hairs (fig. 48), sternum 6 with poorly defined but rather extensive setose areas on each side of mid-line, setae sinuate, rather sparse, apical lobe broader than long, acutely angulate laterally; gonocoxites narrowed above base, sinuate, slightly dilated apically, bearing numerous elongate hairs (fig. 49).
DISTRIBUTION—This is limited to the narrow coastal region of the southeastern states, from North Carolina to Florida, July and August.

FLOWER RECORDS—This visits Galactia primarily, but has been collected on Erigeron.

Names
Scientific source:

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Hosts · map
FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Fabaceae  Galactia sp @ BBSL (1)

Galactia @ UCRC_ENT (2)

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Updated: 2024-03-28 18:14:14 gmt
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