Megachile sculpturalis (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), the giant resin bee new to South Tyrol

Abstract

In this article we present a bee species newly documented for South Tyrol. The occurrence of Megachile sculpturalis in South Tyrol was recorded once in 2016 and four times in summer 2019. The species is an accidently introduced bee from South-East Asia that already colonized great parts of the US and is currently spreading across Central and Southern Europe. One record includes the observation of the alien wild bee visiting a sunflower, a hitherto unknown plant interaction for this species