Megachile (Litomegachile) texana Cresson, 1878

Megachile texana Cresson, 1878: 125 . Drons 2012: 59.

Megachile (Litomegachile) texana; Mitchell 1935a: 32; 1962: 118. Butler 1965: 4. Hurd 1979: 2054. Ivanochko 1979: 103. Scott et al. 2011: 55. Sheffield et al. 2011: 42. Bzdyk 2012: 56. Reese et al. 2018: 22. Sheffield and Heron 2019: 70. Engel 2020: 10.

Megachile texana var. cleomis; Mitchell 1935a: 32.

Diagnosis. The female of M. texana can be identified by its 4-toothed mandibles, which have an even semicircular emargination between the 3 rd and 4 th tooth (Fig. 7B), and the lateral, erect, black setae on T2–6 (viewed dorsally). The male of M. texana can be identified by the apical margin of T6 (ventrad the transverse carina), which has submedian teeth that are closer to the lateral teeth than to each other (Fig. 9E), greater than 50% black pubescence on the scutum, tergites with significant bands of black pubescence, and vertex of head with greater than 50% black pubescence. This species is most similar to M. lippiae (see M. lippiae above and Taxonomic Challenges).

Notes. Megachile texana has been recorded mainly east of the divide in Montana (Fig. 1 AH). Photographs, illustrations, full morphological descriptions, and notes on the biology of this soil-nesting species can be found in Sheffield et al. (2011) and Bzdyk (2012). Sheffield and Genaro (2013) briefly made a claim of dividing M. texana from Megachile cleomis Cockerell. See Taxonomic Challenges above for a more complete discussion.