Megachile (Sayapis) pugnata Say, 1837

Pritchard, Zoe A., Ivie, Michael A., O’Neill, Kevin M. & Delphia, Casey M., 2025, A faunal treatment of the Megachile (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) of Montana with a key for their identification, Zootaxa 5683 (1), pp. 1-51 : 39

Megachile (Sayapis) pugnata Say, 1837

Megachile pugnatus Say, 1837: 408 .

Megachile (Sayapis) pugnata ; Mitchell 1937c: 201; 1962: 179. Butler 1965: 14. Hurd 1979: 2072. Ivanochko 1979: 316. Fultz 2005: 134. Gonzalez 2008: 36. Scott et al. 2011: 56. Sheffield et al. 2011: 67. Kuhlman and Burrows 2017: 13. Reese et al. 2018: 22 . Delphia et al. 2019a: 25 . Sheffield and Heron 2019: 70. Engel 2020: 11.

Eumegachile (Sayapis) pugnata (Say) ; Mitchell 1980: 51.

Megachile pugnata ; Drons 2012: 58.

Megachile inimica , not Cresson, 1872 (misidentification); Pearce 2008: 51. Pearce et al. 2012: 101.

Diagnosis. The female of M. pugnata can be identified by its parallel-sided tergites ( Fig. 6C ), pronounced tooth on the posterior genal margin ( Fig. 7P ), and clypeal margin with three tubercles. The genal tooth of the female cannot be mistaken for any other Montana Megachile species. The male of M. pugnata can be identified by its thin and narrowly pointed procoxal spine ( Fig. 8H ) and the scoop-shaped dilation of its probasitarsus, which has dark setae along the basal ⅓ of the posterior edge. The males are most similar to M. fidelis (see M. fidelis above).

Notes. This large, distinctive species is widespread in Montana, although most records are from the west ( Fig. 1 AC). The fact that records extend to the southeast border indicates it will be found more broadly with more collecting in the under-sampled eastern part of the state. Photographs, a full morphological description, and notes on the biology of this cavity-nesting species can be found in Sheffield et al. (2011), who report that it is a Helianthus specialist. The voucher for the misidentified specimen ( Pearce et al. 2012) is in the MTEC identified as a male M. pugnata (MTEC 57005) ( Table 2; Supp. Material 2: Erroneous Records).

Figures

FIGURE 1. County-level distribution of each Megachile species in Montana. Females identified as Megachile latimanus/ Megachile perihirta (and data without recorded specimen sexes) are counted here as M. perihirta as they are not distinguishable from one another in Montana. Males identified as Megachile lapponica/Megachile relativa (and data without recorded specimen sexes) are counted here as M. relativa as they are not distinguishable from one another in Montana. Mitchell county records are included on maps but not in specimen counts. Two specimens did not have county-level localities and are not included in maps but are included in specimen counts.

FIGURE 6. Female Megachile characters. (A) Ventral view of metasoma with white apical setal bands on S2–6, (B) Dorsal view of rounded metasoma, widest at T2–3, (C) Dorsal view of subparallel metasoma, (D–H) Anterior view of clypeus: (D) M. apicalis, (E) M. mellitarsis, (F) M. fidelis, (G) M. lippiae, (H) M. coquilletti, (I) Lateral view of mandible gradually tapering in width towards apex, (J) Lateral view of mandible with base square-shaped with parallel sides for a distance as long as wide, then tapering apically, and (K) Lateral view of mandible square basally, with sides parallel for approximately ⅓ the length of mandible, then tapering apically.

FIGURE 7. Female Megachile characters. (A–H) Anterolateral view of mandible, (I–N) Lateral view of metasoma, tergites 4–6, (O) Lateral view of tergites on M. dakotensis, and (P) Lateral view of head with pronounced tooth on the posterior genal margin on M. pugnata.

FIGURE 8. Male Megachile characters. (A) Probasitarsus not expanded or excavated ventrally, (B) Probasitarsus widely expanded and excavated ventrally, (C–E) Anterior view of mesobasitarsus and mesotibia, (F) Lateral view of triangular metatarsomeres on M. manifesta, (G) Lateral view of quadrate metatarsomeres on M. wheeleri, (H) Ventral view of procoxal spine, longer than wide, (I) Ventral view of procoxal spine, wide and spatulate, (J–L) Dorsal view of vertex of head: (J) Ocelloccipital distance longer than ocellocular distance, (K) Ocelloccipital distance equal to ocellocular distance, and (L) Ocelloccipital distance shorter than ocellocular distance.