Taxonomic studies on subgenus Pseudomegachile Friese under genus Megachile Latreille (Hymenoptera) from Sutlej basin plains (India)

Genus Megachile forms an integral part of the ecosystem as its members are important pollinators of both wild and cultivated flora. Surveying on a large scale helps in gathering a lot of information about their spatial and temporal data. This also helps in studying their biodiversity and taxonomy. Three species of solitary bees under subgenus Pseudomegachile Friese of the genus Megachile Latreille collected from Sutlej basin plains of India have been studied and described taxonomically. Megachile (Pseudomegachile) creusa (Bingham), M. (P.) ramakrishnae Cockerell and M. (P.) elfrona (Cameron) with 21 examples are described including their morphological characters, taxonomically important characters, zoogeographic records, floral associations along with genitalic and sternal plates. Since most of the areas included in the study have been surveyed first time for Megachile study, these are new records for the studied area

Taxonomic studies on species belonging to subgenus Eutricharaea Thomson of the genus Megachile (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)

Solitary bees belonging to genus Megachile are important pollinators very crucial for the wellbeing of the ecosystem. Large scale surveying will return a wealth of spatio-temporal species data which is critical for systematics, taxonomy and conservation of biodiversity. Detailed taxonomic characterization of solitary bee species belonging to subgenus Eutricharaea collected from the Sutlej basin of Indian northern plains is being described. A total of four species viz. Megachile hera Bingham, M. femorata Smith, M. vera Cameron and M. argentata Cameron belonging to subgenus Eutricharaea with 18 examples were studied. Detailed morphological descriptions, zoogeographic records, specimen examined, floral associations with illustrations and morphological measurements have been provided. Various areas finalised from different parts of Sutlej basin of northern plains were surveyed for the first time for the documentation of Megachile fauna. Hence, all these four species are first records for the studied area