Descriptions and diagnoses of ten new Nearctic species of Stelis subgenus Stelis are presented: S. alta, S. anasazi, S. anthocopae, S. broemelingi, S. imperialis, S. joanae, S. lamelliterga, S. occidentalis, S. paiute, and S. shoshone. Six of these species have been reared from trapnests. Host associations, all within the tribe Osmiini (Megachilidae), are provided.

The orchid bees constitute a clade of prominent insect pollinators distributed throughout the Neotropical region. Males of all species collect fragrances from natural sources, including flowers, decaying vegetation and fungi, and store them in specialized leg pockets to later expose during courtship display. In addition, orchid bees provide pollination services to a diverse array of Neotropical...

Three closely related species of mites of the genus Cheletophyes were collected from large African carpenter bees: C. venator (Vitzthum) is associated with Xylocopa nigrita ; C. torridae sp. nov. and C. mbomba sp. nov. are associated with Xylocopa torrida . Ranges of 21 morphometric variables in C. venator and putative C. torridae are overlapping. However, a large gap between the two groups was...

With the recent decline of honey bees, Apis mellifera (L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), there is a need for alternative or supplemental crop pollinators, such as Osmia cornifrons (Radoszkowski) (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). However, O. cornifrons propagation could be impeded by a cleptoparasitic mite, Chaetodactylus krombeini Baker. We investigated the effects of formic acid and wintergreen oil on mor...