SHARP-EATMAN
NATURE
PHOTOGRAPHY
FLORIDA BEES
IDENTIFICATION PAGE # F 2024-7
March 2024
Melitta americana
from Gainesville
A short field note: I ran across a group of male Melitta americana feeding on farkleberry (Vaccinium arboretum) in a deforested area near a woodland. The next day I found about a dozen females in the same site feeding on deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum) intermingled with the farkleberry. Over the next three days, I saw females in the area collecting pollen exclusively from deerberry. Males drank nectar from both sparkleberry and deerberry. Melitta americana is sometimes described as a deerberry specialist, but there are records of it feeding on huckleberry and Rubus, and on a range of Vaccinium, including cranberry.
Melitta americana is not common in north central Florida. For example, Melitta did not appear on a survey by Hall & Ascher (2010) of Gainesville/Alachua County bees. Melitta americana does appear (as the single Florida Melitta species) on the University of Florida bee key: (https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/hallg/melitto/floridabees/melittidae.htm). That key reports that the species has been documented in Alachua County. The Discover Life database reports Melitta americana northwest of Gainesville, and Melitta americana appeared recently on I-Nat in southwest central Florida. The similar Melitta eickworti has been found in Georgia, but its usual range is the Carolinas through New England; I haven't found any reports of it in Florida.
Size: female 11.5 mm,
male 11.5 mm
Melitta americana
FEMALE
Food plants:
Deerberry
(Vaccinium stanimeum)
When and where seen:
April 7, 2024
Gainesville, Florida
(Alachua County)
Female Melitta americana
Close-up dorsal view of female
Lateral view of female
Alternate lateral view: the hind-leg scopae are on the tibia, and not on leg segments closer to the body.
This trait more than any other makes the female Melitta stand out in the field -- the bright orange pollen of deerberry blossoms clings like ankle weights to their lower legs.
Female Melitta americana
All photographs and text protected by registered copyright.
Permissions Information
Size: female 11.5 mm,
male 11.5 mm
Melitta americana
MALE
Food plants:
Farkleberry
(Vaccinium aboreaum)
Deerberry
(Vaccinium stanimeum)
When and where seen:
April 7, 2024
Gainesville, Florida
(Alachua County)
Male Melitta americana
A male Melitta americana on farkleberry
This male's basitarsi are also shorter than the tibia.
The male's abdomen has a flat appearance.
Abdomen of male bee
Male Melitta americana
Male Melitta americana
SOME GENERAL NOTES ON Melitta americana
Melitta americana Smith 1863 was described by Mitchell in1960 (BOEUS, pp. 522-524). Snelling and Stage (1995) (A Revision of the Nearctic Melittidae) does not include a description of M. americana, but newly describes M. eckworti and distinguishes the two species by attributes of the tongue and genitalia and by the following: (1) The male Melitta americana has a pygidium-like process on S8 that is convex (with a longitudinal median impression); on M. eickworti, S8 is flat or concave/indented (and lacks a median impression) . (2) The female has dense pitting on T2-T4; on M. eickworti , the puntuation on these terga is sparse and scattered. Pitting on the female clypeus also differs.
Snelling and Stage cite records of Melitta americana in Florida; there is a general record (no specific location given) for M. eickworti in Georgia, but none for Florida. Snelling and Stage note that both species are found on deerberry. They also cite records of Melitta americana on huckleberry and Rubus.
MITCHELL'S 1960 DESCRIPTION OF Melitta americana