Megachile lanata (F.) (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) is a polylectic pollinator that is native to India and northern Africa. It was introduced to the Antilles during slave trading sometime during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries (Mitchell 1960; Genaro 2008). The bee was noted as “Habitat in America” in the original species description, which could indicate its presence in the Antilles, or suggest that Fabricius thought the bee was present on the North American mainland (Fabricius 1775). Collection records of the first published occurrence of this species were noted as Kingston and Port Antonio, Jamaica, in 1891 when it was described as Megachile martindalei (Fox 1891). It was noted as present in south Florida in 1958 and was assumed to have come from Cuba (Krombein et al. 1958). Published literature has reported the species in only 2 Florida counties (Miami-Dade and St. Lucie) as recently as 2005 (Leavengood & Serrano 2005). Here we present findings of a single Megachile lanata specimen captured at Halfmoon Wildlife Management Area in northwest Sumter County, Florida, in a blue/yellow vane trap on 4 Apr 2017 during a pollinator restoration experiment. The trap was located in an unmanaged, cow excluded, Bahia (Paspalum notatum Flüggé) (Poaceae) pasture that is returning to longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) (Pinaceae) Flatwoods ecosystem. This finding represents a 260 km (about 160 mi) range extension from the previous county records that spurred this investigation. A recent publication reported 2 specimens collected in southern Polk County (Campbell et al. 2017), and additional specimens have been collected recently from John U. Lloyd and Lover’s Key State Parks in Broward and Lee counties (Abbate 2017). Several different online databases and museum collections were used to increase specimen records used in this study, with the previously unpublished data and location information. We also used photographed observations from iNaturalist. The specimen collected in Halfmoon Wildlife Management Area is still the northernmost record. However, by compiling 58 specimen records and observations of M. lanata present in 10 additional counties (Table 1), we were able to roughly map out the species’ range shift over time (Fig. 1).
