The Andrenidae (commonly known as mining bees) are a large, nearly

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

family of solitary, ground-nesting bees. Most of the family's diversity is located in temperate or arid areas (warm temperate xeric). It includes some enormous genera (e.g., ''

Andrena ''Andrena'' is a genus of bees in the family Andrenidae. With over 1,500 species, it is one of the largest genera of animals. It is a strongly Monophyly, monophyletic group that is difficult to split into more manageable divisions; currently, '' ...

'' with over 1300 species, and '' Perdita'' with over 700). One of the subfamilies, Oxaeinae, is so different in appearance that they were typically accorded family status, but careful

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analysis reveals them to be an offshoot within the Andrenidae, very close to the Andreninae. C. D. Michener (2007) ''The Bees of the World'', 2nd Edition, Johns Hopkins University Press.

Description

The Andrenidae are typically small to moderate-sized bees, which often have scopae on the basal segments of the leg in addition to the

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

, and are commonly oligolectic (especially within the subfamily Panurginae). They can be separated from other bee families by the presence of two subantennal sutures on the face, a primitive trait shared with the sphecoid wasps. Many groups also have depressions or grooves called "foveae" on the head near the upper margin of the eyes, another feature seen in sphecoids, and also shared by some

Colletidae The Colletidae are a family (biology), family of bees, and are often referred to collectively as plasterer bees or polyester bees, due to the method of smoothing the walls of their nest cells with secretions applied with their mouthparts; these s ...

. Andrenids are among the few bee families that have no cleptoparasites. The family contains a very large number of taxa, especially among the Panurginae, whose sting apparatus is so reduced that they are effectively unable to sting. The subfamily Oxaeinae is rather different in appearance from the other subfamilies, being large, fast-flying bees with large eyes, resembling some of the larger

. The Andrenidae are known from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

boundary, around 34 Mya, of the Florissant shale.

"Nocturnal" species

The Andrenidae are one of the four bee families that contain some

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal (active during dawn), vespertine (biology), vespertine/vespertinal (active during dusk), or both. This is distinguished from diurnalit ...

species; these species are active only at dusk or in the early evening, and therefore technically considered " vespertine". In the Andrenidae, such species occur primarily in the subfamily Panurginae. These bees, as is typical in such cases, have greatly enlarged

ocelli A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...

, though one crepuscular subgenus of ''

'' has normal ocelli. The other families with some crepuscular species are

Halictidae Halictidae is the second-largest family of bees (clade Anthophila) with nearly 4,500 species. They are commonly called sweat bees (especially the smaller species), as they are often attracted to perspiration. Halictid species are an extremely div ...

, Colletidae, and

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 ...

Genera

* Subfamily Alocandreninae ** '' Alocandrena'' * Subfamily Andreninae ** '' Ancylandrena'' ** ''

'' ** '' Euherbstia'' ** '' Megandrena'' ** '' Orphana'' * Subfamily Oxaeinae ** '' Mesoxaea'' ** '' Notoxaea'' ** '' Oxaea'' ** '' Protoxaea'' * Subfamily Panurginae ** Tribe Protandrenini *** '' Anthemurgus'' *** '' Anthrenoides'' *** '' Chaeturginus'' *** '' Liphanthus'' *** '' Neffapis'' *** '' Parapsaenythia'' *** '' Protandrena'' *** '' Psaenythia'' *** '' Pseudopanurgus'' *** '' Rhophitulus'' ** Tribe Panurgini *** '' Avpanurgus'' *** '' Camptopoeum'' *** '' Panurginus'' *** '' Panurgus'' ** Tribe Nolanomelissini *** '' Nolanomelissa'' ** Tribe Melitturgini *** '' Belliturgula'' *** '' Borgatomelissa'' *** '' Flavomeliturgula'' *** '' Gasparinahla'' *** '' Khuzimelissa'' *** '' Melitturga'' *** '' Meliturgula'' *** '' Mermiglossa'' *** '' Plesiopanurgus'' ** Tribe Protomeliturgini *** '' Protomeliturga'' ** Tribe Perditini *** '' Macrotera'' *** '' Perdita'' ** Tribe Calliopsini *** '' Acamptopoeum'' *** '' Arhysosage'' *** '' Calliopsis'' *** '' Callonychium'' *** '' Litocalliopsis'' *** '' Spinoliella'' *** '' Xeranthrena''

References

External links

''Andrena'' Image Gallery from Atlas Hymenoptera

North American Andrenidae

Identification guides to eastern North American Andrenidae
{{Authority control Bee families