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Photo#313368
Megachile (Chelostomoides) sp. Female - Megachile chilopsidis - female

Megachile (Chelostomoides) sp. Female - Megachile chilopsidis - Female
Vallecito County Park, San Diego County, California, USA
April 23, 2009
Size: BL ~ 14 mm
We saw this bee on Palo Verde (Cercidium floridum). The venation is not really visible. On the second image, the lower abdomen seems hairy. Thanks in advance for any help.

Images of this individual: tag all
Megachile (Chelostomoides) sp. Female - Megachile chilopsidis - female Megachile (Chelostomoides) sp. female - Megachile chilopsidis - female

Moved

Megachile (Chelostomoides) chilopsidis
female

note highly curved mandibles and modified clypeus with weakly bilobed shelf-like projection.

Compare with fig. 59 of Snelling, 1990

a vernal desert bee, known to visit Cercidium floridum (see Snelling, 1990: 30)

 
Megachile (Chelostomoides) chilopsidis female
It's fabulous to get this female Megachile to genus! Thanks so much, Dr. Ascher. This is a special bee!

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Megachile (Chelostomoides)
female

 
Megachile (Chelostomoides)
Thanks so much for the ID,Dr. Ascher. The subgenus really helps. Are these oversized mandibles distinctive of all species in this subgenus?

 
well shucks john i just knew
well shucks john i just knew you would come along and shoot me down.

Leaf-Cutter Bee
This is a Megachilid. The hairiness on the abdomen is their scopa or pollen carrier. Most bees have scopa on their legs, but the ventral abdominal scopa is a charateristic of this family. I think its in the genus Megachile but hopefully someone else will confirm. Its throwing me off a little because its mandibles seem huge, but that might just be this individual.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/7751/bgimage

 
Megachilid
Thanks so much for getting this to family!

 
My thinking would be that thi
My thinking would be that this is an Ashmeadiella. Mandibles are distinctive but cant place the species.

 
The mandibles
I'm glad you pointed out those mandibles, Gordon. Yes, they really are distinctive, really do project forward. Those mandibles and the inability to see the wing venation made this bee a mystery for me.

 
Well thanks for the correction.
I wasn't sure.

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