Xanthemisia Moure, 2019

Genaro, Julio A. & Breto, Dayron, 2024, The genus Centris Fabricius in Cuba, with a new record and the description of a new species (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), Insecta Mundi 2024 (41), pp. 1-26 : 11

Subgenus Xanthemisia Moure

Diagnosis. This subgenus has a few species. The maxillary palpus is four-segmented; the mandibles of the female each have five teeth, one of them on the inner surface at the base of the apical tooth (rutellum); the primary pygidial plate is abruptly narrowed a short distance beyond the secondary one; and in males the gonostylus is much broadened in a vertical plane ( Snelling 1974, 1984; Michener 2007; Vivallo 2014).

These bees build nests in pre-existing cavities such as wooden galleries made by other insects or abandoned nests of other bee and wasp species ( Martins et al. 2020; F. Vivallo, pers. comm., 2022). Not much else is known about their nesting habits ( Vivallo et al. 2013).

Three species occur in the Antilles: C. aethiops , C. caymanensis Vivallo and C. domingensis Dalla Torre.