Megachile sublaurita Mitchell, 1927

Megachile laurita sublaurita Mitchell, 1927: 117 [♀].

     Holotype ♀. USA, Utah [MCZ no. 1571].

Megachile (Megachiloides) subanograe Mitchell, 1934: 344 [♀] [synonymy by Sheffield et al. 2011: 57].

     Holotype ♀. USA, Wyoming, Green River (about 41? 32' N, 109? 28'W), 6100 ft, 2 July 1920 [AMNH].

Species Notes

This species has been collected only rarely in Canada from southern AB (Ivanochko 1979), although it is much more common in the United States.

The male was described by Sheffield et al. (2011). Like M. anograe and M. subnigra, this species has pale and melanistic forms which show no differentiation in COI sequences. The pale form (i.e., M. subanograe) is much more common and widespread in North America, and is the only form occurring in Canada. This species nests in the ground (Bohart and Youssef 1972).

References

Bohart GE, Youssef NN (1972) Notes on the biology of Megachile (Megachiloides) umatillensis Mitchell (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) and its parasites. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 124: 1-19.

Ivanochko M (1979) Taxonomy, Biology and Alfalfa Pollinating Potential of Canadian Leaf-Cutting Bees: Genus Megachile Latreille (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). M.Sc. Thesis, McGill University, Montreal, QC.

Mitchell TB (1927) New megachilid bees. Psyche 34: 104-121.

Mitchell TB (1934) A revision of the genus Megachile in the Nearctic region. Part I. Classification and descriptions of new species (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 59: 295-361.

Sheffield CS, Ratti C, Packer L, Griswold T (2011) Leafcutter and mason bees of the genus Megachile Latreille (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in Canada and Alaska. Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification No. 18, 29 November 2011, available online at doi: 10.3752/cjai.2011.18