Identificaciones de ecogeekmama

This is a 12 mm male carpenter mimic leafcutter bee (Megachle Xylocopoides) found feeding on snow squarestem (Melanthera nivea) in Gainesville, Florida.

This is black bee with dark wings tinged with bluish-purple iridescence and a face covered with dense white hairs. The bee’s forelegs have flamboyant, enlarged white-and-orange basitarsi fringed with rust-colored hairs, and black-and-orange femurs. The abdomen is covered with mostly black hairs and lacks the pale hairbands found on many leafcutters. The first segment of the upper abdomen (T1) has long white hairs along the base. Male Megachile xylcopoides have four-toothed mandibles.

SIMILAR BEES: The Bahamian leafcutter (Megachile bahamensis), which occurs in the southern half of Florida, is very similar to M. Xylocopoides. Male Megachile bahamensis can be told apart from male M. xylocopoides by the following traits: (1) The lower segments of the middle and hind legs of male M. bahamensis are mostly pale tan and covered with pale hairs. The middle and hind leg tarsi (lowermost leg segments or "feet") are reddish. By contrast, on male Megachile xylocopoides, the lower middle and hind legs are black and covered on their outer surfaces with predominantly black or brown hairs; only a short fringe of white hair lines the front of each lower hind leg. The middle and hind leg tarsi are black. (2) Male Megachile bahamensis have numerous pale hairs on the sternum (underside of the abdomen); on M. xylocopides, the hairs on the sternum are black. (3) Male Megachile bahamensis also tend to run smaller than male M. xylocopoides. Megachile bahamensis has not been reported as far north as Gainesville / North Central Florida.

This male woolly wall bee (Megachile lanata) was found feeding with a group of similar male and female leafcutter bees, on sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea), in Palm Bay, Florida, on Dec. 6, 2019. This is an easily identified leafcutter. The hairs on the male bee’s head, thorax and part of its abdomen are bright rust-red. The rear half of its abdomen is black with bold white hair bands. It is also fairly large -- 14 mm (3/5 inches). Female Megachile lanata are as large as 16 mm.

The woolly wall bee is a beautiful, but non-native, leafcutter bee originating in southeast Asia. It was first described by Fabricius in 1775 and arrived in the West Indies on trade ships in the 1800’s, or possibly earlier. Sometimes referred to as a “tramp species," Megachile lanata is well-established in many Caribbean islands, and has spread as far as northern south America. It is a fairly recent migrant to south Florida.

Megachile lanata is a significant crop pollinator in southeast Asia, important to hemp production. It is a pollinator generalist, but in Florida is closely associated with non-native crotalaria. It also visits common Florida ornamentals such as esperanza (Tecoma stans), golden dewdrops (Duranta erecta) and firebush (Hamelia patens).

This is a 12 mm male Triepeolus lunatus, a common Florida cuckoo bee, found resting on snow squarestem (Melanthera nivea) in a garden frequented by various long-horned bee species. The host of this brood parasite is Melissodes bimaculatus (the two-spotted longhorn bee): this longhorn bee species was observed in the area where this Triepeolus lunatus was found.

This male bee is entirely black, with pale hairs. In Florida, many Triepeolus lunatus have red legs, and additional red coloration on the mandibles, parts of the face and antennae, the tegulae (the plates where the wings join the body) and the tubercules (rounded protuberances located toward the front of the thorax). The University of Florida's key for Florida bee species places Triepeolus lunatus that lack red coloring in the subspecies Triepeolus lunatus concolor. https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/hallg/melitto/floridabees/triepeolus.htm

This 9 mm female Dianthidium floridiense (Florida pebble bee) was found gathering pollen from Bidens alba in Melbourne Beach, Florida, on June 1, 2023. This is a small black bee with dark wings, orange legs and bright orange markings on its head and body. A prominent u-shaped orange mark adorns the female's face. On males of this species, the face below the antennae is almost entirely yellow.

In the field, without the benefit of a macro lens, the easiest way to tell the female Florida pebble bee from other Florida Dianthidium and similar Anthidiellum is by the orange u-shaped facial mark.

This is a 9.5 mm female Manee's Nomia (Nomia maneii). It was part of a large group of similar female Nomia found feeding on milkpea (Galactia) in a hickory-oak forest in St. Johns County, Florida, in August 2019.

Some traits that help identify this species include the following. It has three opalescent bands on its abdomen that glint greenish-blue under strong light. These bands appear on T2, T3 and T4 (the second, third and fourth abdominal segments). The bands are not formed by hairs, but are instead part of the integument (exoskeleton) of the bee. The first segment of the abdomen (T1) lacks a pearlescent band, but has a narrow interrupted band formed by pale hairs. More minute traits of this female bee include: The clypeus (the face part above the mandibles) is bisected by a median ridge; a groove runs across T2, near the base of the segment; both the front an rear portions of the scutum (the first thorax segment) are densely pitted; and the scutellum (second thorax segment) is deeply pitted.

This female bee is smaller than a typical Nomia nortoni, the other Nomia species native to Florida. (Female Nomia maneei are 9.5-12 mm vs 15-16 mm for Nomia nortoni females). Nomia maneei shows a preference for pea-family flowers and in Florida is often associated with milk pea.

This ID was also confirmed recently at bug guide. https://bugguide.net/node/view/1716223

This is a 12 mm female Florida long-horn cuckoo bee (Triepeolus rufithorax), found feeding on snow squarestem (Melanthera nivea).

This is a predominantly black bee with patterns on its upper thorax and abdomen formed by dense, short yellowish hairs. The following parts of the bee are red: its legs (including the coxae); tegulae; pronotal lobes; much of the scutellum; the axillar spines; the apical edge of the clypeus; the bases of the mandibles; the labrum; and the lower antennae (scapes, pedicels, F1 & part of F2). It does not have the red scutum (first thorax segment) typical of male Florida longhorn cuckoo bees like that shown here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/223844342.

Rightmyer (2008) describes Triepeolus rufithorax as a black bee that tends to have red on the upper thorax and abdomen, and on the following parts: the legs, mandibles, labrum, clypeus, interantennal area (sometimes), and basal or entire antennae (pp. 113-114). Rightmyer notes that Triepeolus lunatus and T. rufithorax are similar, and that “the only notable difference between the two species is the greater amount of red coloration on the thorax in T. rufithorax" (p.80). Nonetheless, she mentions in her Triepeolus key that the scutum of the female is typically or usually red but “sometimes partially or entirely black” (pp. 20, 22).

This 10 mm male Nomada fervida was found feeding on mint flowers in a Gainesville garden on July 3, 2024. This is a black bee with a bright yellow facial mask, red legs, and a thorax and abdomen adorned with yellow, orange and red markings. Nomada fervida is usually associated with sandy habitats. Its host is unknown, although some sources suggest it may be Agapostemon splendens. An excellent description of this species and summary of available Nomada fervida research can be found at this University of Florida entomology page: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bees/nomada_fervida.htm

Traits that help ID male Nomada fervida found in Florida are: (1) The scutellum (the second segment of the thorax) is covered by a large yellow marking, often with reddish-orange edges and a reddish-orange area in the center; on the segment behind this is a yellow bar-shaped marking tinged with red-orange. (2) The propodeum (located two segments behind the scutellum) is entirely black, without markings. (3) The abdomen’s first segment (T1) has a wide reddish band with a yellow rear edge. The second segment (T2) has a wide yellow band, sometimes tinged with orange or rust-red on its front edge. Colors of the remaining segments can vary -- T3-T5 may be entirely black, mostly yellow or – as on the bee here -- black with small yellow markings.

This species is found both in the Great Lakes area and in the Deep South. Nomada specimens in Florida and the south tend to have more orange or reddish markings than their northern counterparts (whose markings tend to be yellow).