Heriades leavitti

Crawford, 1913

Leavitt's Armored-Resin bee

Heriades leavitti is a solitary in the Megachilidae, subgenus Neotrypetes, described by Crawford in 1913. It belongs to a of armored-resin bees known for nesting in pre-existing cavities and sealing nest entrances with plant resin. The species is distributed in the Neotropical region and North America, though specific biological details remain poorly documented in accessible literature.

Heriades leavitti by the Smithsonian. Used under a CC0 license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Heriades leavitti: /ˈhɛriˌeɪdiːz liːˈvɪtaɪ/

These audio files are automatically generated. While they are not always 100% accurate, they are a good starting point.

Identification

As a member of Heriades, this likely exhibits the -characteristic compact, cylindrical body form with a somewhat flattened and relatively sparse compared to other megachilid bees. Species-level identification requires examination of male genitalia and detailed external morphological features; an identification key for Neotropical Heriades species was published in 2024.

Images

Distribution

Neotropical region; North America. Specific locality records include Vermont, United States.

Behavior

Based on -level characteristics: females use pre-existing tunnels such as old borings in dead wood or hollow twigs for nesting. Nests are provisioned with pollen collected on the scopa (abdominal pollen brush) and sealed with partitions and entrance plugs made of plant resin.

Ecological Role

As with other Heriades , likely contributes to pollination of native flowering plants within its range.

Similar Taxa

Heriades cressoniOther North American Heriades ; geographic overlap in some regions requires careful morphological examination to distinguish
Other Heriades species in subgenus NeotrypetesNine new described from Neotropical region in 2024, necessitating updated identification resources for accurate species determination

More Details

Taxonomic Note

Heriades leavitti is classified in subgenus Neotrypetes, the only Heriades subgenus distributed in the Americas. The 2024 revision of Neotropical Heriades recognized 15 total in the for this region.

Data Limitations

Most accessible sources list this only in taxonomic catalogs without species-specific biological information. The primary revision containing , descriptions, and distributional maps (Zootaxa 5570, 2024) was not fully accessible for this record.