First finding of Megachile sculpturalis Smith (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) in Friuli Venezia Giulia (north-eastern Italy)

In the summer of 2017 the first specimens of the giant resin bee, Megachile sculpturalis Smith (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae), a polylectic allochthonous species of Asian origin, were observed in a family garden in Romans d’Isonzo (district of Gorizia, Friuli Venezia Giulia region, north-eastern Italy). Outside the house, these large blackish wild bees nested in two sites: the hollow of a large ornamental log and a metal ventilation pipe emerging from a wall. In the previous three years until the spring of 2017, the same log hollow had been used for nesting by the carpenter bee Xylocopa cfr. violacea (L.) (Hymenoptera, Apidae). After being discovered in France in 2008, M. sculpturalis was observed for the first time in Italy in 2009 in Piedmont and then in other Italian regions, as well as in Switzerland, Germany and Hungary. In particular, the finding of giant resin bees presented in this paper is the easternmost record in Italy for this species to date, which is rapidly spreading throughout Europe.