In the western Mediterranean, 772 species of bees in the family Megachilidae have been reported. Special emphasis has been placed on the Iberian Peninsula, where to date 218 species are known. However, few intensive studies providing information about communities of Megachilidae have been carried out. Two earlier works cite 70 species; almost one third of those known on the Peninsula. With an a...

The southern African bee genus Plesianthidium Cameron is revised. It comprises twelve species. Two new species are described: Plesianthidium (Spinanthidium) richtersveldense sp. nov. (Namibia and South Africa) and P. (S.) namaquaense sp. nov. (South Africa). Two species, Plesianthidium calvini (Cockerell, 1932) and P. rufocaudatum (Friese, 1909), are reinstated as valid species. Keys for the id...

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 rare genus Trachusoides, previously known only from a single species inhabiting the Western Ghats of India, is reviewed. Trachusoides elsieae, new species, is described from Laos, additional records for T. simplex are documented, and a key to separate the species is provided.

We review the six species of non-metallic Osmia (Melanosmia) found in North America, including the description of two new species found in Canada and the northern United States: Osmia (Melanosmia) aquilonariasp. n., and Osmia (Melanosmia) nearcticasp. n., respectively belonging to the inermis and xanthomelana species groups. We additionally provide keys to the non-metallic Melanosmia found in N...

Phylogenetic relationships within the bee family Megachilidae are poorly understood. The monophyly of the subfamily Fideliinae is questionable, the relationships among the tribes and subtribes in the subfamily Megachilinae are unknown, and some extant genera cannot be placed with certainty at the tribal level. Using a cladistic analysis of adult external morphological characters, we explore the...

In 2008, a new species for the French bee fauna was recorded in Allauch near Marseille: the giant resin bee, Megachile sculpturalis (Smith, 1853). This was the first European record of this species that is native to East Asia. To our knowledge, it is the first introduced bee species in Europe. Here, we provide an overview of the current distribution of M. sculpturalis in France and we describe ...

The cosmopolitan genus Megachile include many species described on the basis of only one sex. Sexual dimorphism is very pronounced in these taxa and therefore sexes are often difficult to associate, thus making species identification nearly impossible. The females of M. (Chrysosarus) concava and M. (Pseudocentron) variplantis are described and illustrated. Additional geographical and host recor...