Anthidium

Anthidium
Temporal range:
Anthidium florentinum
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Megachilidae
Tribe: Anthidiini
Genus: Anthidium
Fabricius, 1805
Type species
Apis manicata

Anthidium is a genus of bees often called carder or potter bees, who do not cut leaves, but use conifer resin, plant hairs, mud, or a mix of them to build nests. Like other members of the family Megachilidae (most of which are called "leafcutter bees"), they are solitary bees with pollen-carrying scopa that are only located on the ventral surface of the abdomen (other bee families have pollen-carrying structures on the hind legs). The ~80 species are distributed primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, and South America.