resin bee
Integument is the chitinous material of the outer skeleton. The apparent colour of the bee may be due to the colour of the integument or the colour of any tomentum (hair) that covers the surface.
A defining characteristic of M. hackeri and M. apicata is the tomentum in the grooves of T3 and T4. Tomentum is a felt-like covering of short, highly-branched hairs pressed close to the surface. The terms T1, T2 ... refer to the segments of the top half of the metasoma, numbered from front to back.
Megachile hackeri
Size
Identifying Characteristics
Small species, most like M. apicata from which it can be distinguished by the mandibles - the shape in the case of females and the colour (black) in the case of males. The colour of the integument at the end of the abdomen varies from black to dull red-brown.
Distinctive Features
The grooves at the bases of the second and third metasomal segments carry white tomentum.
Flower Visiting Records
| Baeckea brevifolia | Boronia microphylla | Daviesia ulicifolia |
| Hibbertia scandens | Jacksonia scoparia | Kunzea ambigua |
| Leptospermum sp. | Leucopogon sp. | Pultenaea tuberculata |
| Stylidium sp. |
Taxonomy
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Megachilidae |
| Genus: | Megachile |
| Subgenus: | |
| Species: | hackeri |