Apinae
The Apinae are the subfamily that includes the majority of bees in the family Apidae. It includes the familiar "pollen basket, corbiculate" (pollen basket) bees—bumblebees, honey bees, euglossini, orchid bees, stingless bees, and the extinct genus ''Euglossopteryx''. It also includes all but two of the groups (excluding Nomadinae and Xylocopinae) that were previously classified in the family Anthophoridae. Most species in the subfamily (other than honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees) are solitary, though several of the Tribe (biology), tribes are entirely kleptoparasite, kleptoparasitic, such as the Ericrocidini, Isepeolini, Melectini, Osirini, Protepeolini, and Rhathymini. Behaviors Certain behaviors are known from members of the Apinae that are rarely seen in other bees, including the habit of males forming "sleeping aggregations" on vegetation - several males gathering on a single plant in the evening, grasping a plant with their jaws and resting there through the nig ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anthophoridae
Apidae is the largest family within the superfamily Apoidea, containing at least 5700 species of bees. The family includes some of the most commonly seen bees, including bumblebees and honey bees, but also includes stingless bees (also used for honey production), carpenter bees, euglossini, orchid bees, nomadinae, cuckoo bees, and a number of other less widely known groups.BugGuide.Net: the Family Apidae (of bees) . accessed 6.23.2013 Many are valuable pollinators in natural habitats and for agricultural crops.[Michener, Charles D. (2007) ''The bees of the world''. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore, Londres.] Taxonomy In addition to its historical classification (honey bees, bumble bees, stingless bees and orchid bees), the family Apidae presently includes ...[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Honey Bee
A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosmopolitan distribution of honey bees, introducing multiple subspecies into South America (early 16th century), North America (early 17th century), and Australia (early 19th century). Honey bees are known for their construction of perennial colonial nests from wax, the large size of their colonies, and surplus production and storage of honey, distinguishing their hives as a prized foraging target of many animals, including honey badgers, bears and human hunter-gatherers. Only 8 surviving species of honey bees are recognized, with a total of 43 subspecies, though historically 7 to 11 species are recognized. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the roughly 20,000 known species of bees. The best-known honey bee is t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anthophorini
The Anthophorini are a large tribe in the subfamily Apinae of the family Apidae. Species in this tribe are often referred to as digger bees, although this common name is sometimes also applied to members of the tribe Centridini. It contains over 750 species worldwide, all of which were previously classified in the obsolete family Anthophoridae along with members of several other tribes; the vast majority of species in the tribe Anthophorini are in the genera '' Amegilla'' and '' Anthophora''. Description All Anthophorini species are solitary, though many nest in large aggregations. Nearly all species make nests in the soil, either in banks or in flat ground; the larvae develop in cells with waterproof linings and do not spin cocoons. The characters used to define this group are subtle, but they are nonetheless fairly recognizable. * They are generally large (up to 3 cm), very robust, hairy bees, with visibly protruding faces, and the apical portion of the wings are studded ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ctenoplectrini
The bee tribe Ctenoplectrini of the subfamily Apinae, with the two genera ''Ctenoplectra'' and ''Ctenoplectrina'', comprises 9 species in tropical Africa, 10 in Asia, and 1 in Australia. Description The Ctenoplectrini are characterised by short tongues, modified scopae and large comb-like tibial spurs adapted to collect and carry a mixture of floral oils and pollen. The unusual morphology has made it difficult to infer their closest relatives, in turn preventing an understanding of these bees’ geographic and temporal origin and had led early authors to place them in their own family Ctenoplectridae. Recent molecular phylogenetic analyses find Ctenoplectrini to be monophyletic and closest to the long-horned bees, Eucerini. Most of the tribe's species collect floral oil, pollen, and nectar from a few genera of the family Cucurbitaceae. However, three species are thought to be kleptoparasites. Kleptoparasitic species The presumably kleptoparasitic species form a clade (''Cte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Osirini
The Osirini are a tribe of cuckoo bees in the family Apidae, all but one genus exclusively from the Neotropics, and laying their eggs in the nests of bees in the apid tribe Tapinotaspidini; the one exceptional genus is '' Epeoloides'', which has one North American species and one European species, both of which attack the melittid genus '' Macropis''. All species in this tribe are unique among the bees in the possession of a tiny sclerite A sclerite (Greek language, Greek , ', meaning "hardness, hard") is a hardened body part. In various branches of biology the term is applied to various structures, but not as a rule to vertebrate anatomical features such as bones and teeth. Instea ... embedded in the membrane beneath the head, possibly to help guard against being stung in the neck by an angry host bee when invading a nest. References * C. D. Michener (2000) ''The Bees of the World'', Johns Hopkins University Press. Apinae Bee tribes Brood parasites {{Apinae-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tetrapediini
The Tetrapediini are a tribe of apid bees. Genera *'' Coelioxoides'' *'' Tetrapedia'' References * C. D. Michener (2000) ''The Bees of the World'', Johns Hopkins University Press. Apinae Bee tribes {{Apinae-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ancylaini
Ancylaini is a tribe of apid bees. The name was fixed by an ICZN opinion to differentiate it from the Ancylini tribe of fresh-water mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...s. References *C. D. Michener (2000) ''The Bees of the World'', Johns Hopkins University Press. Apinae Bee tribes Taxa named by Charles Duncan Michener {{Apinae-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Euglossini
The tribe (biology), tribe Euglossini, in the subfamily Apinae, commonly known as orchid bees or euglossine bees, are the only group of Pollen basket, corbiculate bees whose non-parasitic members do not all possess Eusociality, eusocial behavior. Description, distribution, and behavior Most of the tribe's species are solitary, though a few are communal, or exhibit simple forms of eusociality. There are about 200 described species, distributed in five genera: ''Euglossa'', ''Eulaema'', ''Eufriesea'', ''Exaerete'' and the monotypic ''Aglae''. All species occur in South or Central America, though one species, ''Euglossa dilemma'', has become established in Florida in the United States, and species of ''Eulaema'' and ''Eufriesea'' have been reported from Arizona and Texas, respectively. The genera ''Exaerete'' and ''Aglae'' are Kleptoparasite, kleptoparasites in the nests of other orchid bees. All except ''Eulaema'' are characterized by brilliant metallic coloration, primarily green ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rhathymini
The Rhathymini are a tribe of kleptoparasitic apid bees ("cuckoo bees"). Description The Rhathymini consists of bees typically moderate to large in size, ranging body length. Visually, scholars have compared their appearance to that of vespid wasps (especially ''Polistes''), or the giant species of the bee genus '' Nomada.'' Behavior As a kleptoparasitic species, the Rhathymini forego the typical pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or bu ... process common amongst bee species to feed their offspring, and instead lay their eggs within the nests already provisioned by other bee species. Rhathymini have been documented to display aggression toward other bee ecosystems, including documented instances of attacking the nests of other bees. Genera *'' Nanorha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Protepeolini
The Protepeolini are a tribe of cuckoo bees in the family Apidae Apidae is the largest family within the superfamily Apoidea, containing at least 5700 species of bees. The family includes some of the most commonly seen bees, including bumblebees and honey bees, but also includes stingless bees (also used for ..., containing only one genus, ''Leiopodus''. Species * '' Leiopodus abnormis'' (Jörgensen, 1912) * '' Leiopodus lacertinus'' Smith, 1854 * '' Leiopodus nigripes'' Friese, 1908 * '' Leiopodus singularis'' (Linsley & Michener, 1937) * '' Leiopodus trochantericus'' Ducke, 1907 References * C. D. Michener (2000) ''The Bees of the World'', Johns Hopkins University Press. Apinae Bee genera Brood parasites Taxa named by Frederick Smith (entomologist) {{Apinae-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Euglossini
The tribe (biology), tribe Euglossini, in the subfamily Apinae, commonly known as orchid bees or euglossine bees, are the only group of Pollen basket, corbiculate bees whose non-parasitic members do not all possess Eusociality, eusocial behavior. Description, distribution, and behavior Most of the tribe's species are solitary, though a few are communal, or exhibit simple forms of eusociality. There are about 200 described species, distributed in five genera: ''Euglossa'', ''Eulaema'', ''Eufriesea'', ''Exaerete'' and the monotypic ''Aglae''. All species occur in South or Central America, though one species, ''Euglossa dilemma'', has become established in Florida in the United States, and species of ''Eulaema'' and ''Eufriesea'' have been reported from Arizona and Texas, respectively. The genera ''Exaerete'' and ''Aglae'' are Kleptoparasite, kleptoparasites in the nests of other orchid bees. All except ''Eulaema'' are characterized by brilliant metallic coloration, primarily green ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |