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Photo#1088910
Black Bee - Melissodes bimaculatus - female

Black Bee - Melissodes bimaculatus - Female
Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, USA
May 29, 2015
Size: 13 mm in length
This bee has been seen pollinating Hibiscus that are native to South Louisiana.

Images of this individual: tag all
Black Bee - Melissodes bimaculatus - female Black Bee - Melissodes bimaculatus Black Bee - Melissodes bimaculatus

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

 
Does [i]Melissodes bimaculata
Does Melissodes bimaculata always have two spots on its abdomen? There aren't any present on this specimen.

 
sometimes not so obvious
i see a tiny bit of white in the second photo. some subspecies have reduced white or it might have lost hairs with age. examples:

 
Okay, thank you!
Okay, thank you!

Looks like Xylocopa to me...
Looks like Xylocopa to me...

 
Too small
I believe it is too small to be anything in Xylocopa. It also does not have a metallic coloring.

 
Hmm - it's within the size ra
Hmm - it's within the size range specified for Xylocopa on the genus page ("12-26 mm") and does look shiny to me (not all species are metallic, some are just shiny black or dark colors). Body is too thick to be Ceratina. Megachile xylocopoides is the other usual suspect, but seems thinner to me - what do you think?

 
[i]Megachile xylocopoides[/i]
Megachile xylocopoides stores pollen on the under side of its thorax, but this bee was carrying pollen on the hairs on its back legs.

 
Melissodes bimaculata
this is a female Melissodes bimaculata. welcome to bugguide!

 
Aha! Good for me to know ano
Aha! Good for me to know another Xylocopa look-alike!

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