Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Photo#272722
Resin Bee - Megachile pruina - female

Resin Bee - Megachile pruina - Female
Kenner, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, USA
May 5, 2009
Megachile?

This guy never really stopped. It would land on a flower and take off again immediately.

Images of this individual: tag all
Resin Bee - Megachile pruina - female Resin Bee - Megachile pruina - female Resin Bee - Megachile pruina - female

Moved

Megachile female
leaf-cutter

I believe this is Megachile (Pseudocentron) pruina.

Note the description of var. pinguis, described from coastal Texas (Galvesten), in Mitchell, 1937, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 63:68.

Variety pinguis, treated as a subspecies in the Hurd (1979) Red Catalog, has, "Pubescence of face, cheeks, pleura, propodeum, legs and abdomen basally, fuscous" as opposed to largely white in typical pruina according to the key on p. 64.

If this ID is correct it is apparently a first record of the species from Louisiana and the first record of the subspecies from outside Texas.

I am not aware of other Megachile in the region with this hair pattern, in particular the extensively fuscous puescence. Comments welcome!