New state records for the introduced bee species Osmia taurus Smith, 1873 and Osmia cornifrons (Radoszkowski, 1887) (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in western North America

Abstract

Solitary bees of the genus Osmia Pannzer, 1806 (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) are important agricultural pollinators, and several species are commercially managged for fruit tree pollination in the United States. This includes North American natives like the blue orchard mason bee, Osmia loignaria Say, 1837. It also includes introduced, non-natives like Osmia cornifrons (Radoszkowski, 1887), which was intentionally imported to the U.S. from Japan in 1965 to Utah (Rust 1974) and again from Japan in 1978 to Maryland (Batra 1982).