Amegilla scoparia

Tilcayo Cats original · Amegilla · Sources and editorial assessment · Originals retention rule

Amegilla scoparia is a bee of central Australia described in 2020. Its name refers to a conspicuous brush of stiff hairs on the male's abdominal underside. The revision places the northern edge of its documented distribution just north of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Appearance

Males have a wide rectangular brush of brown bristles on the fourth abdominal sternite and a two-coloured, Y-shaped brush on the sixth. Females have pale orange hind-leg pollen brushes, a pale mark above the central face plate and black hair at the front of the second upper abdominal plate.

Localities and flower records

The name-bearing male came from Beltana Station in South Australia, collected in June 2009 on Eremophila. Other material used in the description came from Andamooka, Port Augusta and the Great Victoria Desert. These are documented localities within the wider range described by the revision.

Recorded flowers include several Eremophila species, Senna, Goodenia, Trichodesma and other genera. The range of plant records gives a more varied picture of flower use than a single host-plant label would. It does not, however, measure pollen preference or pollination effectiveness. The revision examined 45 males and 66 females.