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Dianthidium curvatum (Smith, 1854)
Megachile interrupta_homonym Say, 1824; Anthidium curvatum Smith, 1854; Anthidium (Dianthidium) curvatum (Smith, 1854); Dianthidium sayi Cockerell, 1907, replacement name; Dianthidium sayi xerophilum Cockerell, 1907; Dianthidium (Dianthidium) curvatum sayi Cockerell, 1907, valid subspecies; Dianthidium (Dianthidium) curvatum xerophilum Cockerell, 1907, valid subspecies

Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Megachilidae   Dianthidium
Subgenus: Dianthidium



Dianthidium curvatum MALE mm
© Copyright Laurence Packer 2014 · 7
Dianthidium curvatum MALE mm

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Dianthidium curvatum, F, back, Sandhills, North Carolina
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Dianthidium curvatum, F, back, Sandhills, North Carolina
Dianthidium curvatum, F, face, Sandhills, North Carolina
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Dianthidium curvatum, F, face, Sandhills, North Carolina

Dianthidium curvatum, F, side, Sandhills, North Carolina
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Dianthidium curvatum, F, side, Sandhills, North Carolina
Dianthidium curvatum, M, face, Jackson County, SD
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Dianthidium curvatum, M, face, Jackson County, SD

Dianthidium curvatum, M, side, Jackson County, SD
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Dianthidium curvatum, M, side, Jackson County, SD
Dianthidium curvatum, M, tip of abdomen, Jackson County, SD
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Dianthidium curvatum, M, tip of abdomen, Jackson County, SD

Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, face
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Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, face
Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, side
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, side

Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, back
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, back
Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, back
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, back

Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, face
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, face
Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, side
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Dianthidium curvatum, m, GA, baker, side

Dianthidium curvatum, Barcode of Life Data Systems
Barcode of Life Data Systems · 1
Dianthidium curvatum, Barcode of Life Data Systems
Dianthidium curvatum, 209083, female, face
© USDA Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory, Logan Utah · 1
Dianthidium curvatum, 209083, female, face

Dianthidium curvatum, 209083, female, face t
© USDA Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory, Logan Utah · 1
Dianthidium curvatum, 209083, female, face t
Dianthidium curvatum, 209083, female, scutum t
© USDA Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory, Logan Utah · 1
Dianthidium curvatum, 209083, female, scutum t

Dianthidium curvatum, 209083, female, face
© USDA Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory, Logan Utah · 1
Dianthidium curvatum, 209083, female, face
Dianthidium curvatum, male, top
© Mary Paul · 1
Dianthidium curvatum, male, top

Dianthidium curvatum, male, side
© Mary Paul · 1
Dianthidium curvatum, male, side

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Overview
FEMALE: Length 7 mm.; black, with yellow maculations; clypeus yellow; broad facial maculations abruptly truncate at top of eye; a narrow band along upper half of cheek; tubercles and adjacent anterior margin of scutum yellow, median third of this margin black; axillae, a narrow posterior band on scutellum, and a small anterior spot on pleura, yellow; basal abdominal tergum with short, lateral maculae and a more elongate, median, yellow band; terga 2-5 with lateral, transverse maculae which are widely separated medially, posterior margin broadly emarginate; length of face slightly greater than distance between eyes above; eyes subparallel; lateral ocelli quite small, slightly nearer margin of vertex than to eyes; clypeus slightly convex, apical margin straight; mandibles entirely black, tri-dentate, median tooth nearer apical angle than to inner angle; cheeks narrower than eyes; malar space inevident; tegulae very closely and minutely punctate, largely red, but anterior half yellow, outer margin hyaline; wings quite deeply infuscated, especially in area of marginal cell, veins piceous; coxae, trochanters and femora black, apex of femora narrowly yellow; tibiae yellow in large part but becoming more ferruginous apically, the tarsi largely testaceous or brownish; spurs yellow; hind coxa with a very short, posterior, triangular tubercle; pubescence entirely pale, very short and inconspicuous, copious only below wing bases on metapleura and propodeum; ventral scopa entirely pale ochraceous; punctures coarse, deep and distinct, close on face and cheeks, and over entire thorax; apical margins of abdominal terga impunctate, the discs coarsely punctate, punctures well separated medially on terga 2-4, close toward sides and on basal and apical terga.

MALE: Length 7 mm.; black, with yellow maculations; clypeus and mandibles yellow; broad, lateral maculations of face which end broadly at upper end of eye, lower margin of supraclypeal area, a narrow band on cheeks above upper end of eye, tubercles, adjacent anterior margin of scutum, axillae and posterior border of scutellum, all yellow; basal abdominal tergum with a median and a pair of lateral maculations; terga 2-4 with transverse bands which are slightly interrupted medially and conspicuously emarginate posteriorly, these well separated from the apical margin of each tergum, tergum 5 with a pair of small lateral spots, and tergum 7 entirely yellow except for a narrow basal band of black; face considerably longer than distance between eyes above; eyes subparallel; lateral ocelli very slightly nearer eyes than to margin of vertex; clypeus slightly convex, the apical margin straight; mandibles obscurely tri-dentate, median tooth very small and obscure; cheeks narrower than eyes; tegulae very finely and closely punctate, narrowly yellowish anteriorly, otherwise more ferruginous; wings lightly infuscated, veins piceous; legs black basally, femora narrowly yellowish at apex, outer face of front and mid tibiae, basal third of hind tibiae and outer face of hind basitarsi, yellow; legs otherwise more testaceous or brownish; spurs pale yellow; hind coxae with a robust, posteriorly directed, triangular spine which is bright yellow; pubescence of entire body pale ochraceous, very short and inconspicuous, copious only beneath wing bases on metapleura and propodeum; punctures deep, distinct and quite coarse, close over lower part of face, on cheeks, and over entire thorax, slightly separated above antennae and on vertex, those on vertex, scutellum and pleura coarser than on cheeks, face below and over scutum; apical margins of abdominal terga impunctate, discs coarsely and deeply punctate, punctures well separated on terga 2-4 medially, close laterally and on basal and apical terga; tergum 7 with a median, triangular projection which is separated from the broadly truncate lateral margins by rather deep emarginations; abdominal sterna 1-5 largely exposed, 4 and 5 with conspicuous, dense and elongate pubescence medially, 6 broadly out-curved and to a large degree exposed, 7 and 8 retracted, as in simile (fig. 5); genital armature nearly identical with that of simile.

DISTRIBUTION: Missouri to North Carolina, south to Florida, April to October.

FLOWER RECORDS: Aster, Chrysopsis, Helenium, Koellici and Psorctlea.

The subspecific designation of curvatum is made necessary by the recognition of two other subspecies in the West.

Identification
Extracted from THE POLLEN-COLLECTING BEES OF THE ANTHIDIINI OF CALIFORNIA (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) by Grigarick A., A. (1968).

Dianthidium curvatum is the most widely distributed species of this genus in North America. It has been separated into four subspecies. In the east it is represented by c. curvatum (Smith) and c. floridense Schwarz, both of which are separated from the western subspecies by having coarser punctation on the frons of both sexes, and sparser and shorter pubescence on the metasomal sterna of the male. D. curvatum sayi has yellow and reddish-brown maculations, the latter color being prominent on the head, thorax, legs, and margins of the terga. The amount of reddish-brown marking may vary considerably on specimens from a single locality (Hicks, 19266). D. c. sayi differs from curvatum xerophilum Cockerell, occurring in the southwestern United States, only by having less reddish-brown maculation on the head than the desert subspecies. D. c. curvatum has very little red in its color pattern, but c. floridense is nearly all reddish-brown. This species is distinguished from all others of the genus by having a small spine on the forecoxa of both sexes. Collections of D. curvatum sayi have been uncommon in California and have been limited to the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The biology of sayi has been studied much more extensively than other Dianthidium of North America. This is probably due to the habit of nesting in aggregations in the soil which possibly offers more opportunity to find and observe them. Nesting sites were found in Colorado by Hicks (1926a) with as many as 250 cells in a radius of three feet The cells extended two to four inches below the ground and were often attached to plant roots. These nests frequently had communal entry tunnels from which secondary tunnels, containing the cells, radiated. One female may have been constructing several nests at the same time, but there was no evidence indicating that more than one female worked on the same cell. Custer and Hicks (1927) pointed out that this was the only known member of the genus that nested in the soil. The materials used for its nest construction were pebbles or grains of sand held together by plant resins, as is the case with other members of the genus. These authors also noted that a female of this species was observed to mate more than once.

Hicks (1926a), Custer (1928), and Fischer (1951) reported the following parasites on sayi: mutillids, Sphaerophthalma uro ssp. melanderi (Baker), Dasymutilla harmonia (Fox), Dasymutilla asopus (or D. hector); a sapygid, Eusapyga rubripes Cresson; and a bombyliid fly, Villa (Anthrax) sp. (=Spogostylum daphne [Osten Sacken]).

Names
Scientific source:
Hosts · map
FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Anacardiaceae  Metopium toxiferum @ BBSL (1)
Asteraceae  Aster @ AMNH_BEE (3)

Carthamus tinctorius @ BBSL (1)

Cichorium sp @ BBSL (1)

Coreopsis @ AMNH_BEE (1)

Grindelia sp @ BBSL (8)

Grindelia squarrosa @ BBSL (5); AMNH_BEE (4)

Helenium @ AMNH_BEE (2)

Helianthus annuus @ BBSL (7); UCRC_ENT (1)

Helianthus petiolaris @ AMNH_BEE (7)

Helianthus sp @ BBSL (2); AMNH_BEE (1)

Helianthus @ AMNH_BEE (7); UCRC_ENT (2)
Capparaceae  Cleome sp @ BBSL (1)
Fabaceae  Melilotus sp @ BBSL (1)
Polycitoridae  Salix sp @ BBSL (1)

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Updated: 2024-10-03 20:06:54 gmt
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