FIRST RECORD OF MEGACHILE SCULPTURALIS SMITH IN SLOVENIA
(HYMENOPTERA: MEGACHILIDAE)
Andrej GOGALA1 & Bojan ZADRAVEC2
1 Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije, Prešernova 20, p.p. 290, SI - 1001 Ljubljana; 
agogala@pms-lj.si
2 Vipavska cesta 57, 5000 Nova Gorica
Abstract – One female of the giant resin bee, Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis
Smith, was photographed in the Trenta valley in the Julian Alps in 2016, the first
record of this alien species in Slovenia.
KEY WORDS: bee fauna, Slovenia, alien species
Izvleček – PRVA NAJDBA VRSTE MEGACHILE SCULPTURALIS SMITH V
SLOVENIJI (HYMENOPTERA: MEGACHILIDAE)
Samica azijske čebele smolarke, Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis Smith,
je bila leta 2016 fotografirana v dolini Trente v Julijskih Alpah, kar je prvi podatek
za to tujerodno vrsto v Sloveniji.
KLJUČNE BESEDE: favna čebel, Slovenija, tujerodne vrste
The giant resin bee, Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis Smith, is an eastern
Asian bee species, native to China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. In the nineties it was
introduced to the eastern United States, where it was first collected in 1994 and has
steadily spread since then (Hinojosa-Díaz 2008). In Europe, it was first detected in
2008 in Allauch near the port of Marseille, France (Vereecken & Barbier 2009).
Only a year later, it was found in Piedmont, northern Italy, on the other side of the
Alps (Quaranta et al. 2014). It has reached southern Switzerland in 2010 (Amiet
2012). In 2015, it was detected in southern Germany and northern Switzerland, north
of the Alps (Westrich et al. 2015), as well as in Hungary (Kovács 2015) and in 2017
in Vienna, Austria (Wiesbauer 2017).
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Megachile sculpturalis is a large bee, with 20-25 mm rivaled only by the two
large Xylocopa species, X. violacea and X. valga, among the European species.
Females build their nests in all kinds of cavities like borings in wood which could
then be transported long distances and newly emerged adults may start colonization
of new territories. Specimens are active in July and August, males emerge earlier
than females (Quaranta et al. 2014). Nest closures are made of resin, covered with
mud. The use of resin in nest construction is typical for the subgenus Callomegachile,
which is very diverse in the Oriental region. Pollen is collected from various trees
and shrubs. In northern Italy Ligustrum was the most abundant pollen (Quaranta et
al. 2014), while in southern France and Germany nests were provisioned with pollen
of Styphnolobium japonicum (Westrich et al. 2015).
Spread of this alien species to Slovenia was expected. When Bojan Zadravec pre-
sented some of his photographs to Andrej Gogala for identification, it was recognized
on a photo taken at the source of the river Soča in the Trenta valley, Julian Alps,
already in 2016:
Megachile sculpturalis Smith, 1853
Trenta: Izvir Soče, 1024 m, 11. 8. 2016, 1♀, photo Bojan Zadravec (Fig. 1)
What was not expected is the finding of the species in the Alpine region, at 1024
m a.s.l., first.  Quaranta et al. (2014) and Westrich et al. (2015) have had doubt in the
Acta entomologica slovenica, 26 (1), 2018
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Fig. 1: Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis Smith in the Trenta valley, Slove-
nia. Photo Bojan Zadravec, 2016.
possibility of spread of the species over the Alps on their own, preferring the possibility
of spread with the transport of wood. The latter is possible also here, however, with
construction materials for paths and objects.
References
Amiet, F., 2012: Die Blattschneiderbiene Megachile sculpturalis Smith, 1853 (Hy-
menoptera, Apidae) nun auch in der Schweiz. Entomo Helvetica, 5: 157–159.
Hinojosa-Díaz, I. A., 2008: The giant resin bee making its way west: first record in
Kansas (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). ZooKeys, 1: 67-71.
Kovács, T., 2015: Megachile sculpturalis Smith, 1853 in Hungary (Hymenoptera,
Megachilidae). Folia Hist.-Nat. Mus. Matraensis, 39: 73-76.
Quaranta, M., Sommaruga, A., Balzarini, P., Felicioli, A., 2014: A new species
for the bee fauna of Italy: Megachile sculpturalis continues its colonization of
Europe. Bulletin of Insectology, 67 (2): 287-293.
Vereecken, N. J., Barbier, E., 2009: Premières données sur la présence de l’abeille
asiatique Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis Smith (Hymenoptera,
Megachilidae) en Europe. Osmia, 3: 4-6.
Westrich, P., Knapp, A., Berney, I., 2015: Megachile sculpturalis Smith 1853 (Hy-
menoptera, Apidae), a new species for the bee fauna of Germany, now north of
the Alps. Eucera, 9: 3–10.
Wiesbauer, H., 2017: Wilde Bienen. Biologie – Lebensraumdynamik am Beispiel
Österreich – Artenporträts. Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart, 376 pp.
Received / Prejeto: 1. 2. 2018
Andrej Gogala, Bojan Zadravec: First record of Megachile sculpturalis Smith in Slovenia (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)
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