Dear Peter Kevan
 
possibibly  Anthidium  manicatum was introduced  in  Brazil  with
 
 
furniture  which European immmigrants brought from the Old  World
 
 
during  the last century. The species was already  recorded  from
 
 
Minas Gerais to Rio Grande do Sul.
 
According Prof.Pe.J.S. Moure, the preferred plants of this bee in
 
 
Curitiba,   Parana,   are  Leonurus  sibiricus   (Labiatae)   and
 
 
Antirrhinum  majus (Scrophulariaceae). Males hide in the  flowers
 
 
of Antirrhinum waiting for females. In Uruguaiana, Rio Grande  do
 
 
Sul,  we found this species on flowers of Jacaranda  mimosifoliae
 
 
(Bignoniaceae). We have some individual in our collection.
 
                                 Betina Blochtein
 
                                 PUC-University, Lab.Pesq.Biologicas
 
 
                                 da Univ. Tuebingen, RFA
 
                                 Av.Ipiranga, 6681
 
                                 90.620 Porto Alegre, RS  BRAZIL
 
                                 Phone: (01512) 391511 Ramal 3280
 
                                 Fax: (0512)391564
 
                                 bitnet: [log in to unmask]