While the fossil record of bees (Apoidea: Anthophila) is limited, occurrences from the Pliocene are exceptionally exiguous by their utter absence. Given this gap in occurrences it is therefore noteworthy to report two specimens from the Upper Pliocene (Lower Piacenzian, approximately 3.5 Ma Kabutoiwa Formation of the Motojuku Group in central Japan. Both are represented by fairly complete individuals with a generally fine state of preservation. Two species are represented, one each for the families Megachilidae and Apidae, and are described as Osmia kabutoiwica sp. n. (Megachilinae: Osmiini) and Apis ( Apis ) antejaponica sp. n. (Apinae: Apini). The present material is admittedly negligible but begins the process of piecing together insights into this comparatively recent fauna. The following new combination is established for a Miocene mason bee: Osmia basaltica (Zhang), comb. n. (transferred from Dasypoda Latreille).
Engel et al. (2026) studied this question.