Megachile (Litomegachile) brevis 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 : 29

Megachile (Litomegachile) brevis Say, 1837

Megachile brevis Say, 1837: 407 . O’Neill and Seibert 1996: 321. Pearce 2008: 51, 107. Drons 2012: 58. Pearce et al. 2012: 101. Adhikari et al. 2019: Supplementary Table S4.

Megachile (Litomegachile) brevis ; Mitchell 1935a: 13; 1962: 114. Butler 1965: 2. Hurd 1979: 2051. Ivanochko 1979: 78. Fultz 2005: 134. Gonzalez 2008: 35. Scott et al. 2011: 55. Sheffield et al. 2011: 33. Bzdyk 2012: 37 . Kuhlman and Burrows 2017: 12. Reese et al. 2018: 21 . Delphia et al. 2019a: 24 . Sheffield and Heron 2019: 70. Engel 2020: 10.

Megachile brevis var. nupta ; Mitchell 1935a: 13.

Diagnosis. The females of M. brevis can be identified by the usually all pale yellowish white scopal setae on S2–S6 (except occasionally black scopal setae on the apical half of S6; see Taxonomic Challenges), 4-toothed mandibles with an even, semicircular emargination between the 3 rd and 4 th teeth ( Fig. 7B ), appressed white setae on T6, and the “pinched shape” of T6, which is convex basally and concave apically (viewed laterally) ( Fig. 7K ). The females of M. brevis are most similar to M. onobrychidis , which has entirely black scopal setae on S6 and black setae on T6. For further details on identification issues see Taxonomic Challenges. The males of M. brevis can be identified by the narrow probasitarsus, which is not excavated ventrally ( Fig. 8A ), tomentose, white setae on T6, and weakly emarginate transverse carina on T6 ( Fig. 9B ).

Notes. Megachile brevis is a commonly collected species found widely in Montana ( Fig. 1D ) that nests in a variety of substrates ( Sheffield et al. 2011). Photographs, illustrations, full morphological descriptions, and notes on the biology of this species can be found in Sheffield et al. (2011) and Bzdyk (2012).

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 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.

FIGURE 9. Male Megachile T6 characters. (A–B) Transverse carina, (C) Apical margin with two pairs of prominent teeth on M. parallela, (D) Apical margin with two pairs of small teeth, (E) Apical margin (ventrad the transverse carina) with submedian teeth closer to each other than to lateral teeth, and (F) Apical margin (ventrad to the transverse carina) with submedian teeth closer to lateral teeth than to each other.