Amegilla xylocopoides

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

Amegilla xylocopoides is an Australian bee whose upper abdomen is entirely covered in black hair. It was described in 2020 from Queensland specimens and named for its superficial resemblance to female carpenter bees of the genus Xylocopa.

Specimens and appearance

The name-bearing male was collected south-east of Laura in March 2017. The female used in the description came from Iron Range, Cape York, in 1966. Other specimens included further Cape York records. Both sexes have the black abdominal covering; the name compares appearance and does not place the species in the carpenter-bee genus.

Behavioural observation

At three sites in 2017, males were observed behaving territorially above water where the native plant Monochoria australasica was growing. The paper includes this under flower records, but the observation itself is about male behaviour near the plants. It does not establish that the bee pollinated them, collected their pollen or nested in water.

The revision examined eleven males and one female. Those specimens support the description and reported localities, while leaving the female's nesting and feeding biology poorly documented in that account.