Megachile (Rhodomegachile) deanii

MegachileMegachile aurifrons Megachile erythropyga Megachile (Eutricharaea) Megachile (Hackeriapis) canifrons Megachile (Hackeriapis) rhodura Megachile punctata Megachile (Rhodomegachile) deanii Megachile semiluctuosa Megachile (Thaumatosoma) Megachile ustulata

The Megachile (Rhodomegachile) deanii have a orange to coppery coloured abdomen. The Megachile deanii belong within the subgenus Rhodomegachile, genus Megachile, that describes bees with black integument on the head and thorax and have a red-orange abdomen.

A member of the commonly named “resin bee”, they collect resin for use in their nests. The Megachile deanii has been observed collecting resin from a nearby Angophora floribunda (family Myrtaceae) and collecting recycled resin from a vacated used nest in a bee hotel.

In the following two photos, the Megachile deanii bees were entering an old nesting site to re-use resin.

The following photo of the Megachile deanii about to disappear inside the substrate, the remains of a Stingless Bee nest that was damaged from firewood collection. Both Megachile deanii and Megachile punctata were harvesting waxy material from the empty nest.

Many thanks to Marc Newman for this series of photos of the Megachile deanii first seen on the screen door of a home in Goodna (Brisbane), Queensland. A further search found them nesting in a nearby light fixture.