Megachile wheeleri Mitchell, 1927
Properties
Scientific Name: Megachile wheeleri Mitchell, 1927
Common Name: Wheeler\\\'s Leafcutter Bee
Taxonomy
Megachile vernonensis Cockerell 1912: 355 [♀, not ♂].
Megachile wheeleri Mitchell, 1927: 107 [♀].
Holotype ♀. USA, California, Alta Meadow, 9000 ft., 23 August 1917, by W.M. Wheeler [MCZ no. 15708].
Megachile spokanensis Mitchell, 1927: 109 [♂]. Synonymy by Mitchell (1937: 355).
Holotype ♂. USA, Washington, Little Spokane [Washington Territory], 26 July 1882, by S. Henshaw [MCZ no. 15717].
Taxonomic notes: As indicated by Mitchell (1937: 355), the ♀ of M. vernonensis Cockerell, 1912 represented of colour variant of M. wheeleri Mitchell, 1927, with the scopal hairs of sterna 5 and 6 being black, while normally sternum 5 is entirely white in M. wheeleri, or with a few black hairs apically, the latter consistent with some specimens from BC.
Although M. vernonensis is an older name, the ♂ was made the holotype and is a synonym of M. texana Cresson, 1878 (Mitchell 1935: 32).
DNA Barcode Index Number (BIN): BOLD:AAM4941
Distribution in Canada: Cockerell 1912 [BC, as ♀ Megachile vernonensis Cockerell 1912]; Mitchell 1927 [AB, paratype], 1937 [BC, AB, SK]; Criddle 1928 [AB]; Buckell 1950 [BC]; Sheffield et al. 2011 [AB, SK], 2014 [AB, SK]; Sheffield and Heron 2019 [BC]; Gibbs et al. 2023 [MB].
References
Cockerell TDA (1912) Canadian bees in the British Museum. The Canadian Entomologist 44(12): 354-358.https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent44354-12
Mitchell TB (1927) New megachilid bees. Psyche 34: 104-121.
Mitchell TB (1935) A revision of the genus Megachile in the Nearctic region. Part II. Morphology of the male sternites and genital armature and the taxonomy of the subgenera Litomegachile, Neomegachile and Cressoniella. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 61(1): 1-44.https://www.jstor.org/stable/25077331
Mitchell TB (1936) A revision of the genus Megachile in the Nearctic region. Part V. Taxonomy of the subgenus Xeromegachile (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 62(4): 323-382.https://www.jstor.org/stable/25077381
Sheffield CS, Frier SD, Dumesh D (2014) The bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea, Apiformes) of the Prairies Ecozone, with comparisons to other grasslands of Canada. In: Giberson DJ, Cárcamo HA (Eds) Arthropods of Canadian Grasslands (Volume 4): Biodiversity and Systematics Part 2. 4. Biological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, 479 pp. [ISBN 978-0-9689321-7-9].https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.3752/9780968932179.ch11
Gibbs J, Hanuschuk E, Miller R, Dubois M, Martini M, Robinson S, Nakagawa P, Sheffield CS, Onuferko T (2023) A checklist of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Manitoba, Canada. The Canadian Entomologist 155: E3.https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2022.45
Sheffield CS, Heron JM (2019) The bees of British Columbia (Hymenoptera: Apoidea, Apiformes). Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 115: 44-85.https://journal.entsocbc.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/1001/1097
Buckell ER (1950) Record of bees from British Columbia: Megachilidae. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 46: 21-31.
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 18: 1-107. https://doi.org/10.3752/cjai.2011.18
Criddle N (1928) The entomological record, 1927. Annual Report of the Entomological Society of Ontario 59: 92-103.
Crop Preference: Not Available
Non Crop Preference: Not Available
Distribution: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
Ecozone: Montane Cordillera, Prairie, Western Interior Basin