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© Copyright source/photographer
· 5
Megachile mucida, M, Face, NC, Moore Co |
© Copyright source/photographer
· 5
Megachile mucida, M, Side, NC, Moore Co |
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© NC Agriculture State Experiment Station Technical Bulletin Number 152, T. B. Mitchell, 1962
· 1
Megachile mucida, female, mandibles |
© Stephanie Kolski and Natalie Allen
· 1
Megachile mucida, female, face |
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© Stephanie Kolski and Natalie Allen
· 1
Megachile mucida, female, side |
© Stephanie Kolski and Natalie Allen
· 1
Megachile mucida, female, top |
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© Stephanie Kolski and Natalie Allen
· 1
Megachile mucida, male, face |
© Stephanie Kolski and Natalie Allen
· 1
Megachile mucida, male, side |
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© Stephanie Kolski and Natalie Allen
· 1
Megachile mucida, male, top |
© Rebekah Andrus Nelson
· 1
Megachile mucida, male |
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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 13-15 mm.; entirely black, including tegulae and legs, spurs brownish-testaceous; eyes subparallel; clypeal margin about straight; mandibles 4-dentate, 3rd tooth narrowly truncate, inner tooth narrowly rounded (fig. 43) ; lateral ocelli considerably nearer margin of vertex than to eyes; cheeks subequal to eyes in width; vertex somewhat shining between deep and distinct punctures, these fine and close medially, becoming somewhat more coarse and distinctly separated laterally, minute and close on cheeks; face below ocelli rather finely and densely rugoso-punctate, supraclypeal area shining and sparsely punctate medially, becoming very closely and quite finely punctate laterally, clypeus with a narrow, median, sparsely punctate and shining line, densely, finely and quite deeply punctate
each side of this; pubescence quite copious but not very long around antennae, becoming quite short, erect and largely fuscous on supraclypeal area and clypeus, rather short, erect and largely pale on vertex, with dark hairs intermixed, entirely fuscous on cheeks; pubescence of thorax dense, erect and quite long, entirely yellowish-white on dorsal and posterior surfaces and on upper part of pleura, black on pleura below and on venter, legs entirely black pubescent; scutum quite deeply, distinctly and densely punctate, somewhat separated only in center of disc, scutellum with
narrow, median impunctate line, finely and densely punctate on each side and axillae minutely and densely punctate; pleura somewhat shining, punctures on venter quite sparse and rather shallow, becoming minute and densely crowded above; propodeum smooth, dull, punctures of posterior face quite close, minute and obscure; mid and hind basitarsi about as broad as their tibiae but considerably shorter; tegulae very finely and rather closely punctate, somewhat shining; wings subhyaline, veins brownish-piceous; abdominal terga 2-4 shallowly depressed across base, basal margin distinct but not sharply carinate, apical margins of the terga rather broadly and shallowly depressed, completely lacking fasciae; discal pubescence of tergum 1 entirely pale, quite long, erect and copious, that on basal half of
similar but the narrow, apical portion withquite dense, fuscous pubescence, discs of 3-5 covered with dense, rather short, erect, copious, fuscous pubescence; punctures minute, quite close throughout, sparse only toward base of the more basal terga; tergum 6 about straight in profile with abundant but rather short, erect, fuscous hairs, minutely and very closely punctate throughout; sternum 6 well covered with rather short, black, scopal hairs, scopa densely fuscous or black throughout, the sterna finely and densely punctate, punctures becoming slightly coarser and more widely separated on the more apical plates, sternal fasciae not evident.
MALE—Length 10-12 mm.; black, including tegulae and mid and hind legs, front legs in large part yellowish or testaceous; eyes parallel; clypeal margin very slightly outcurved medially, finely crenulate; mandibles rather obscurely 4-dentate (fig. 43), outer margin evenly rounded, basal, inferior process elongate and acute with a broad base; apical segment of flagellum rather elongate but quite broadly dilated, strongly flattened; lateral ocelli very slightly nearer eyes than to margin of vertex; cheeks somewhat broader than eyes, quite deeply excavated below lower end of eye, posterior margin of excavation with
broad, carinate tubercle; vertex finely and quite densely punctate medially, punctures becoming slightly coarser and more distinct laterally, minute and densely crowded on cheeks, area below ocelli densely and very finely rugose, and entire area below antennae with very fine, densely crowded punctures; pubescence around antennae and over lower part of face copious and erect, entirely yellowish-white, becoming somewhat thinner but long and erect on vertex and upper cheeks, pale except for short fuscous hairs evident on vertex laterally and along outer orbits, cheeks below with a patch of dense, snowy-white, appressed pubescence; pubescence of thorax largely pale, erect and copious, yellowish- white over dorsum and somewhat more whitish on vertex and propodeum; central punctures of scutum distinct and slightly separated but otherwise rather fine and densely crowded, scutellum with a median, narrow, impunctate line, densely and finely punctate on each side and on axillae; pleura uniformly, densely and very finely punctate, propodeum somewhat smoother but rather dull, with very minute, shallow and vague but quite close punctures, especially on posterior face; front coxal spines spatulate, rather narrow, narrowly rounded apically, densely white pubescent posteriorly, with a dense patch of yellowish setae at base on the coxae, a dense patch of snow-white pubescence of each coxa laterally; mid tibial spurs short but well developed; front tarsi entirely pale yellow, basitarsus much elongated anddilated, sides parallel, very deeply excavated, apex projecting over segment 2 nearly to its tip, posterior margin of tarsi with a dense, yellowish-white fringe of rather long hairs, these tipped with brown in large part; outer face of front tibiae piceous, apex yellow, anterior and posterior faces largely testaceous; posterior face of front femora piceous toward tip, otherwise entirely testaceous, quite densely pale pubescent posteriorly; tegulae very finely and quite closely punctate, somewhat shining; wings subhyaline, veins brownish-testaceous; abdominal terga 2-4 shallowly depressed across base, apical margins broadly and quite distinctly depressed, but not at all fasciate, discal pubescence of basal tergum copious, long and erect, entirely yellowish-white, that on 2 yellowish-white across base but more or less fuscous toward apical margin, discal pubescence of 3-5 copious, rather elongate, dense and erect, entirely fuscous or black; punctures of terga very minute, well but not widely separated medially, becoming very close at extreme sides; tergum 6 quite dull, densely and minutely punctate, carina nearly entire on each side, with a rather shallow, rounded, median emargination, median teeth of apical margin carinate, very widely separated, lateral teeth hardly evident; tergum 7 triangularly pointed medially, quite broad and conspicuous; sterna 1-4 exposed, somewhat shining, minutely and rather closely punctate, apical margins quite abruptly and rather narrowly depressed and yellowish-hyaline, with sparse but rather elongate and suberect, pale hairs; setose area of sternum 5 quite extensive, setae fine, minutely pluniose (fig. 44); sternum 6 with broad, densely setose areas that nearly meet medially, setae long and robust, apical lobe broad, produced medially, lateral angles acute; gonocoxites constricted above base, slightly dilated and sinuate above, apex narrowly produced, with a short, subapical, ventral lobe (fig. 45).
DISTRIBUTION—New Jersey to Georgia and Texas, April to June.
FLOWER RECORDS—Lupinus, Polycodium, Rubus and Tephrosia.
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Identification | |
The male of this species is closely related to Megachile xylocopoides, but can easily be differentiated. On T6, the prominent, parallel, median ridge in xylocopoides is deeply notched with the sides of that notch drawn up into narrow prongs. Mucida is also notched, but other than the notch, the ridge is evenly rounded out. It has no prong like structures on the ridge.
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Updated: 2024-04-26 23:18:51 gmt
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