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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 » Miner, Fairy, Allied Panurgine, and Oxaeine Bees (Andrenidae) » Panurgine Bees (Panurginae) » Fairy Bees and Allies (Panurgini) » Fairy and Goblin Bees (Perditina) » Goblin Bees (Macrotera) » Subgenus Cockerellula (Macrotera Subgenus Cockerellula) » Macrotera opuntiae

Species Macrotera opuntiae

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
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 Andrenidae (Miner, Fairy, Allied Panurgine, and Oxaeine Bees)
Subfamily Panurginae (Panurgine Bees)
Tribe Panurgini (Fairy Bees and Allies)
Subtribe Perditina (Fairy and Goblin Bees)
Genus Macrotera (Goblin Bees)
No Taxon (Subgenus Cockerellula)
Species opuntiae (Macrotera opuntiae)
Other Common Names
A more literal translation would be "prickly pear mining bee." Several other Macrotera species also feed on Opuntia, but nest in soil.
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Perdita opuntiae Cockerell, 1922
Explanation of Names
Named after the plant genus Opuntia.
Range
Sandstone outcrops in Great Plains and adjacent mountains.
Habitat
Nest tubes in sandstone; the only North American insect to burrow in sandstone. They may exploit existing holes, but can excavate their own. Otherwise, habitat is probably dictated by preferences of the host plant.
Food
Exclusively Opuntia (prickly pear), at least O. compressa and O. polycantha.
Remarks
"M. (C.) opuntiae (Cockerell) is well known as the bee that makes its burrows in sandstone."(1)
Print References
Bennett, Beth and Michael D. Breed. 1985. The Nesting Biology, Mating Behavior, and Foraging Ecology of Perdita opuntiae (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 58(2):185-194 (JSTOR)
Internet References
Discover Life
Works Cited
1.The Bees of the World, 2nd edition
Charles D. Michener. 2007. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Contributed by John F. Carr on 7 April, 2014 - 4:30pm
Additional contributions by John S. Ascher, PaleoJon
Last updated 13 December, 2021 - 3:55pm

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