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Family Megachilidae Latreille, 72 taxa

    General features of this family of bees include the following: Long-tongued bees, rectangular labrum that is longer than broad and broadly articulated to the clypeus (Michener 2000). Other features that help distinguish the Megachilidae in the Southeastern U.S. are the lack of a basitibial plate (except in Lithurgus), 2 submarginal cells in the wing with the second submarginal rather long. The metasomal sterna have scopa present except in the parasitic forms. The scopa typically found on the hind legs of other bees is absent. 

    The family Megachilidae is well represented in Florida. One subfamily, the Megachilinae is found in Florida with four tribes.

Note: This website is being upgraded with new photos and modified keys and text. At this point, the upgrades have been done largely for only the Megachilidae family. As with the rest of the website, clicking on the thumbnails opens larger photos, and sequences of subsequent links go to the species. Here, an "x", upper right of the large photos, returns to the page with the thumbnails. Links at tops of the pages or the back button go back further to the previous website page. At the species level, the large photos can be viewed through horizontal scrolling, and thumbnails are again on the page below the large photos. Below the thumbnails, two photos can be selected and compared, any two within the Megachilidae family. Until changed, the selection remains when different pages are opened, but emptied when the website is closed.