Megachile ferox

    

Size
female 12 mm; male 11 mm

Identifying Characteristics
Female with large area of orange and two white bands on abdomen (sometimes a weak third band). Males have an expanded fore tarsus with two dark spots on inner surface and the end of the antenna is flattened and expanded.

Distinctive Features
Most like Megachile heliophila but only males of Megachile ferox have the expanded forelegs and antennae. Females are harder to separate. M. ferox has brighter orange hair at the end of the abdomen and distinct white spots of hair at the rear of the thorax. (The spots of M. heliophila are dull and hardly noticeable.) The claws of M. ferox females have a sharp tooth near the base and the end of the clypeus does not protrude, but these things are hard to see.

Flower Visiting Records

Angophora hispida	Bursaria spinosa	Eucalytpus sp.	Dillwynia floribunda
Jacksonia scoparia	Kunzea ambigua	Leptospermum sp.	Leucopogon sp.

Taxonomy

Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Megachilidae
Genus:	Megachile
Subgenus:
Species:	ferox