Author: Klug, 1807

Type species: Apis adunca Panzer, 1798, monobasic.
Subgenera: Anthocopa Lepeletier and Serville, 1825; Chlidoplitis Griswold, 1998; Formicapis Sladen, 1916; Hoplitis s.str. Klug, 1807; Megahoplitis Tkalcu, 1993; Micreriades Mavromoustakis, 1958; Pentadentosmia Warncke, 1991; Stenosmia Michener, 1941.
Synonyms: Phyllotoma Duméril, 1860; Pseudosmia Radoszkowski, 1872; Pseudo-osmia Radoszkowski, 1874; Pseudoosmia Radoszkowski, 1874; Pseudocosmia Radoszkowski, 1886.
Clade: Anthophila
Family: Megachilidae
SubF: Megachilinae
Tribe: Osmiini
Distinctive traits
  •  2 submarginal cells
  • ventral scopa in females
  • arolium present
  • long parapsidal lines
Pictures of distinctive traits.
Morphologically close genera and how to distinguish them
  • Hoplitis - Osmia
Hoplitis species have very long parapsidal lines, a strongly carinate pronotal lobe, and every species have rounded axillae.
Osmia species have very short parapsidal lines, except for the subgenus Hoplosmia, but Hoplosmia species have spined axillae.
  • Hoplitis - Haetosmia
Hoplitis species tend to be larger, they have no elargement of the basitarsus of the anterior legs.
Haetosmia species tend to be smaller, they have a strongly carinate pronotal lobe and a wide basitarsus on anterior legs.
  • Hoplitis - Chelostoma & Hofferia
Hoplitis species have long hairs at the apex of the labrum. Scutellum often shorter than the ITD.
Chelostoma & Hofferia species have no long hairs at the apex of the labrum. Scutellum as long or longer than the ITD.
  • Hoplitis - Heriades & Stenoheriades
Hoplitis species don't have a transverse carina on the T1.
Heriades & Stenoheriades species do have a transverse carina on the T1.
  • Hoplitis - Protosmia
Hoplitis species have a vestigial propodeal triangle and a stout body-shape.
Protosmia species have a marked propodeal triangle and a slender body-shape.
General comments on Hoplitis species identification
Some of the criteria for species identification are the mandible shape, hypostomal carina, proboscis, propodeum and T1 punctation and in males genitalia and last tergites. Specimen preparation should therefore include raising the head and opening the mandible to make mouthparts visible, along with extraction of genitalia
Sorry, but the species identification tool is not yet available for Hoplitis. 
Please check the reference(s) below for traditional keys.
List of the 102 Hoplitis species found in Europe (Ghisbain et al. 2023):
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) acuticornis (Dufour & Perris, 1840)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) bicallosa  (Morawitz, 1876)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) bispinosa van der Zanden, 1992
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) brachypogon (Pérez, 1879)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) campanularis (Morawitz, 1877)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) ciliaris (Pérez, 1902)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) claviventris (Thomson, 1872)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) curtula (Pérez, 1896)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) curvipes (Morawitz, 1871)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) fulva (Eversmann, 1852)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) galbula (Warncke, 1991)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) grossepunctata (Kohl, 1905)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) leucomelana (Kirby, 1802)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) limassolica (Mavromoustakis, 1937)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) mitis (Nylander, 1852)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) mollis Tkalců, 2000
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) occidentalis Müller, 2012
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) praestans (Morawitz, 1893)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) princeps (Morawitz, 1872)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) stellaris (Warncke, 1991)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) subbutea (Warncke, 1991)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) tridentata (Dufour & Perris, 1840)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) tuberculata (Nylander, 1848)
Hoplitis (Alcidamea) turcestanica (Dalla Torre, 1896)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) corcyraea (Tkalců, 1979)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) agis (Benoist, 1929)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) albiscopa (Friese, 1899)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) anipuncta (Alfken, 1935)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) antigae (Pérez, 1895)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) batyamae (van der Zanden, 1986)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) bisulca (Gerstaecker, 1869)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) cristatula (Van der Zanden, 1990)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) cypriaca (Mavromoustakis, 1938)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) dalmatica (Morawitz, 1871)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) fasciculata (Alfken, 1934)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) graeca (Tkalců, 2001)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) grumi (Morawitz, 1894)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) jakovlevi (Radoszkowski, 1874)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) manuelae Müller, 2012
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) mocsaryi (Friese, 1895)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) nicolaei Müller, 2012
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) obtusa (Friese, 1899)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) papaveris (Latreille, 1799)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) peniculifera Müller, 2012
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) perezi (Ferton, 1895)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) pulchella (Pérez, 1895)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) saundersi (Vachal, 1891)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) saxialis (van der Zanden, 1994)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) serainae Müller, 2012
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) taurica (Radoszkowski, 1874)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) villosa (Schenck, 1853)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) yermasoyiae (Mavromoustakis, 1938)
Hoplitis (Anthocopa) zaianorum  (Benoist, 1927)


Hoplitis (Chlidoplitis) lysholmi (Friese, 1899)
Hoplitis (Chlidoplitis) onychophora (Mavromoustakis, 1939)
Hoplitis (Chlidoplitis) teucrii (Benoist, 1927)
Hoplitis (Formicapis) robusta (Nylander, 1848)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) adunca (Panzer, 1798)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) annulata (Latreille, 1811)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) anthocopoides (Schenck, 1853)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) benoisti (Alfken, 1935)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) bihamata (Costa, 1885)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) carinata (Stanek, 1969)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) fabrei van der Zanden, 1987
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) fertoni (Pérez, 1891)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) galichicae Müller, 2016
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) hilbera Müller, 2012
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) holmboei (Mavromoustakis, 1949)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) idaensis (Warncke, 1991)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) insularis (Schmiedeknecht, 1885)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) jheringii (Ducke, 1898)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) lepeletieri (Pérez, 1879)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) lithodorae Müller, 2012
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) loti (Morawitz, 1867)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) manicata (Morice, 1901)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) marchali (Pérez, 1902)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) monticola Müller, 2012
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) ochraceicornis (Ferton, 1902)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) pallicornis (Friese, 1895)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) perambigua (Peters, 1975)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) pici (Friese, 1899)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) ravouxi (Pérez, 1902)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) stecki (Frey-Gessner, 1908)
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) strymonia Tkalců, 1999
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) submanicata van der Zanden, 1984
Hoplitis (Hoplitis) tkalcuella Le Goff, 2003
Hoplitis (Megahoplitis) tigrina (Morawitz, 1972)
Hoplitis (Micreriades) antalyae Tkalců, 2000
Hoplitis (Micreriades) haemi Tkalců, 2001
Hoplitis (Micreriades) illyrica (Noskiewicz, 1926)
Hoplitis (Micreriades) mazzuccoi (Schwarz & Gusenleitner, 2005)
Hoplitis (Micreriades) parnesica (Mavromoustakis, 1958)
Hoplitis (Micreriades) tenuispina (Alfken, 1936)
Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) cadiza (Warncke, 1991)
Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) laevifrons (Morawitz, 1872)
Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) moricei (Friese, 1899)
Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) pomarina (Warncke, 1991)
Hoplitis (Pentadentosmia) quinquespinosa (Friese, 1899)
Hoplitis (Stenosmia) albatera (Warncke, 1991)
Hoplitis (Tkalcua) zandeni (Teunissen & van Achterberg, 1992)
References with identification keys for some of the species:
  • Müller, A. (2012). New European bee species of the tribe Osmiini (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae). Zootaxa, 3355(1), 29-50.
  • Müller, A. (2014). Palaearctic Hoplitis bees of the subgenus Stenosmia (Megachilidae, Osmiini): biology, taxonomy and key to species. Zootaxa, 3765(4), 301-316.
  • Müller, A. (2016). Hoplitis (Hoplitis) galichicae spec. nov., a new osmiine bee species from Macedonia with key to the European representatives of the Hoplitis adunca species group (Megachilidae, Osmiini). Zootaxa, 4111(2): 167-176.
  • Müller, A., & Mauss, V. (2016). Palaearctic Hoplitis bees of the subgenera Formicapis and Tkalcua (Megachilidae, Osmiini): biology, taxonomy and key to species. Zootaxa, 4127(1), 105-120.
  • Falk S.J. (2015) Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. Bloomsbury wildlife guides. 432 p.
Online resources:
Palearctic Osmiine Bees (Palearctic)
BWARS (UK) 
Exotic Bee ID (World)
Discover Life (World)
WestPalBees (West Palearctic)
Page contributors:
  • Adrien Perrard (Dec. 2023)
  • Adrien Perrard (Dec. 2019)

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References used to write this page:
  • Ghisbain, G., Rosa, P., Bogusch, P., Flaminio, S., Le Divelec, R., Dorchin, A., Kasparek, M., Kuhlmann, M., Litman, J., Mignot, M., Müller, A., Praz, C., Radchenko, V.G., Rasmont, P., Risch, S., Roberts, S.P.M., Smit, J., Wood, T.J., Michez, D. & Reverte, S. (2023). The new annotated checklist of the wild bees of Europe (Hymenoptera: Anthophila). Zootaxa, 5327(1), 1-147.
  • Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World, 2nd Edition. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
  • Michez D., Rasmont P., Terzo, M., Vereecken, N. 2019. Abeilles d'Europes. Hymenoptères d'Europes, Volume 1. N.A.P. Editions.
  • Nieto, A., Roberts, S. P., Kemp, J., Rasmont, P., Kuhlmann, M., García Criado, M., ... & Michez, D. 2014. European red list of bees. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union, 98.
  •  Rasmont, P., Devalez, Jelle, Pauly, A., Michez, D. & Radchenko, V.G. 2017. Addition to the checklist of IUCN European wild bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Annales de la Société entomologique de France 53: 17-32.