Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Species Megachile xylocopoides - Carpenter-mimic Leafcutter Bee

Bee and nursery chamber - Megachile xylocopoides - male bee on butterfly weed - Megachile xylocopoides - male Athen's Bee - Megachile xylocopoides What type of bee is this? - Megachile xylocopoides Black Carpenter-mimic Leaf-cutter Bee? - Megachile xylocopoides - female Another Bee - Megachile xylocopoides - male Megachile? - Megachile xylocopoides - male Mountain Mint Bee - Megachile xylocopoides - female
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
No Taxon (Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees)
Family Megachilidae (Leafcutter, Mason, and Resin Bees, and allies)
Subfamily Megachilinae (Leafcutter, Resin, Mortar, Sharptail, Mason, and Woolcarder bees and relatives)
Tribe Megachilini (Leafcutter, Resin, Mortar, and Sharptail bees)
Genus Megachile (Leafcutter and Resin Bees)
No Taxon (Subgenus Melanosarus)
Species xylocopoides (Carpenter-mimic Leafcutter Bee)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Megachile xylocopoides Smith, 1853
Explanation of Names
From the large-carpenter-bee genus Xylocopa + the Greek ending -oides (-οιδης)- "looking like, like"
Size
♂ 10-11 mm; ♀ 12-13 mm (Smith, 1853--see Remarks)
Identification
A very dark Megachile, resembles a Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa, especially such blue-black species as Xylocopa micans.

Quoting from Bees of Florida: Subgenus Melanosarus Mitchell, 2 species. A neotropical subgenus with 2 species in the USA. M. bahamensis is restricted to SE Florida while M. xylocopoides likely occurs throughout the state.... Megachilidae: Megachile xylocopoides Smith. ... Dates: March to November. Notes: primarily a coastal plain species of the SE USA; extends west to to the western deserts.
Range
Southeastern United States, esp. coastal plain
Season
March-November (Florida). May-September (North Carolina)
Food
The Hosts section on its Discover Life species page lists known floral associations based on specimen records and images. Pollen specialist on Asteraceae.
Remarks
Smith (1853) gave length of male as "5 lines", female "6 lines". If this refers to the English line (1/12 inch, or about 2.1 mm as used by botanists, though sometimes reckoned as 1/10 inch!), that gives 10-11 mm for the male, 12-13 mm for female.
See Also
Carpenter Bees, Xylocopa
Print References
Brimley, p. 460, lists for coastal plain and (one record) lower Piedmont of North Carolina. (1)
Internet References
Florida Bees--photos of specimens and descriptions of this, and a related species, M. bahamensis.
Works Cited
1.Insects of North Carolina
C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.