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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees » Leafcutter, Mason, and Resin Bees, and allies (Megachilidae) » Leafcutter, Resin, Mortar, Sharptail, Mason, and Woolcarder bees and relatives (Megachilinae) » Wool-carder, Resin, Pebble, and Allied Bees (Anthidiini) » Woolcarder Bees (Anthidium)

Genus Anthidium - Woolcarder Bees

Representative Images

6011150 - Anthidium manicatum European Wool-carder Bee - Anthidium manicatum Anthidium maculosum bee - maybe Anthidium oblongatum? - Anthidium oblongatum Anthidium manicatum or oblongatum - Anthidium oblongatum - female Unknown Bee - Anthidium manicatum - male - female Anthidium oblongatum Anthidium sp.? - Anthidium maculosum - 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 Anthidiini (Wool-carder, Resin, Pebble, and Allied Bees)
Genus Anthidium (Woolcarder Bees)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

revised in (1)

Numbers

29 spp. in 3 subgenera in our area (all but 3 in the nominate subgenus), ~170 spp. in 7 subgenera worldwide(2)

Identification

interactive key; separate keys for males and females
distinctive characters for the genus(3):
Subantennal sutures very straight

No arolium between front claws (unlike in other Anthidiini)

Range

across NA and much of the world except Australasia and se. Asia (map)

Season

May-Sep (A. cognatum in NC)(4); Jul-Aug in MN

Life Cycle

Females collect down from pubescent plants and use it to line nest(5)

Remarks

A. manicatum and A. oblongatum, common in e. NA, are adventive spp. of European origin

Works Cited

1.Wool carder bees of the genus Anthidium in the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae): diversity, host plant associa...
Victor H. Gonzalez , Terry L. Griswold. 2013. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Vol. 168(2), pp. 221–425.
2.Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2024) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
3.The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America's Bees.
Joseph S. Wilson & Olivia J. Messinger Carril. 2015. Princeton University Press.
4.Insects of North Carolina
C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.
5.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
Contributed by john and jane balaban on 8 October, 2004 - 8:19pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, John S. Ascher, Aaron Schusteff, v belov, Marci Hess, PaleoJon
Last updated 8 August, 2021 - 10:55am

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