The Colletidae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

s, 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 secretions dry into a cellophane-like lining.

C. D. Michener Charles Duncan Michener (September 22, 1918 – November 1, 2015) was an American entomologist born in Pasadena, California. He was a leading expert on bees, his ''magnum opus'' being ''The Bees of the World'' published in 2000. __TOC__ Biogra ...

(2007) ''The Bees of the World'', 2nd Edition, pg. 133, Johns Hopkins University Press. The five

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

, 54

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

, and over 2000

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

are all (with the known exception of but one species, '' Amphylaeus morosus'') evidently solitary, though many nest in aggregations. Two of the subfamilies, Euryglossinae and Hylaeinae, lack the external pollen-carrying apparatus (the

scopa ''Scopa'' (; literally "broom") is an Italian card game, and one of the three major national card games in Italy, the others being '' Briscola'' and '' Tresette''. It is also popular in Argentina and Brazil, brought in by Italian immigrants, mos ...

) that otherwise characterizes most bees, and instead carry the pollen in their crops. These groups, and most genera in this family, have liquid or semiliquid pollen masses on which the larvae develop. They can be found all over the world, but the most species live in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

and Australia. Over 50% of all bee species living in Australia belong to this family. Only the genera ''

Colletes The genus ''Colletes'' (plasterer bees) is a large group of ground-nesting bees of the family Colletidae. They occur primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. They tend to be solitary, but sometimes nest close together in aggregations. Species ...

'' and '' Hylaeus'' can be found in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, while in North America, in addition to these two, the genera '' Caupolicana'', '' Eulonchopria'', and '' Ptiloglossa'' are found. Australian genera include '' Euhesma'', a large genus, members of which has been split off into other genera such as '' Euryglossa'' and '' Callohesma''. Unequal Cellophane Bee (Colletes inaequalis)

Unequal Cellophane Bee (Colletes inaequalis)

Traditionally, this family is believed to be likely the most "primitive" among extant bees, based primarily on the similarities of their mouthparts (the unique possession among bees of a bilobed glossa) to those of

Crabronidae The Crabronidae are a large paraphyletic group (nominally a family) of wasps, including nearly all of the species formerly comprising the now-defunct superfamily Sphecoidea. It collectively includes well over 200 genera, containing well over ...

(the putative ancestors of bees), but recent molecular studies have disproved this hypothesis, placing the Melittidae (''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

'') as the basal group of bees.

"Nocturnal" species

The Colletidae 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, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of dayli ...

species (of both the " vespertine" and " matinal" types). These bees, as is typical in such cases, have greatly enlarged

ocelli A simple eye (sometimes called a pigment pit) refers to a form of eye or an optical arrangement composed of a single lens and without an elaborate retina such as occurs in most vertebrates. In this sense "simple eye" is distinct from a multi-le ...

. The other families with some crepuscular species are

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

Halictidae Halictidae is the second-largest family of bees (clade Anthophila) with nearly 4,500 species. Halictid species are an extremely diverse group that can vary greatly in appearance. These bees occur all over the world and are found on every contine ...

, 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 ...

Systematics

*Subfamily Colletinae — worldwide **Tribe Paracolletini ***'' Brachyglossula'' ***'' Callomelitta'' ***'' Chrysocolletes'' ***'' Eulonchopria'' ***'' Glossurocolletes'' ***''

Hesperocolletes ''Hesperocolletes douglasi'', the Rottnest bee or Douglas's broad-headed bee, is a rediscovered species of plasterer bee that is endemic to Australia, and the sole known member of the genus ''Hesperocolletes''. It was described from a single sp ...

'' ****'' Hesperocolletes douglasi'' ***''

Leioproctus ''Leioproctus'' is a genus in the plaster bee family Colletidae. Its members are primarily found in Australasia and temperate South America, and include the most common native bees in New Zealand. Species It includes the following species: *' ...

'' ***'' Lonchopria'' ***'' Lonchorhyncha'' ***''

Neopasiphae ''Neopasiphae'' is a genus of bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monop ...

'' ***'' Niltonia'' ***'' Paracolletes'' ***'' Phenacolletes'' ***'' Trichocolletes'' **Tribe Colletini ***''

'' ***'' Mourecotelles'' **Tribe Scraptrini ***'' Scrapter'' *Subfamily Diphaglossinae — Americas **Tribe Caupolicanini ***'' Caupolicana'' ***'' Crawfordapis'' ***'' Ptiloglossa'' **Tribe Diphaglossini ***'' Cadeguala'' ***'' Cadegualina'' ***'' Diphaglossa'' **Tribe Dissoglottini ***'' Mydrosoma'' ***'' Mydrosomella'' ***'' Ptiloglossidia'' *Subfamily Xeromelissinae — tropical Americas **'' Chilicola'' **'' Chilimelissa'' **'' Geodiscelis'' **'' Xenochilicola'' **'' Xeromelissa'' '' Hylaeus'' sp. on ''Allium'' flower. *Subfamily Hylaeinae — yellow-faced bees, worldwide **'' Amphylaeus'' **'' Calloprosopis'' **'' Hemirhiza'' **'' Hylaeus'' **'' Hyleoides'' **'' Meroglossa'' **'' Palaeorhiza'' **'' Xenorhiza'' *Subfamily Euryglossinae — Australian **'' Brachyhesma'' **'' Callohesma'' **'' Dasyhesma'' **'' Euhesma'' **'' Euryglossa'' **''

Euryglossina ''Euryglossina'' is a genus of bees belonging to the family Colletidae. The species of this genus are found in Australia and New Zealand. Species: *''Euryglossina angulifacies'' *''Euryglossina argocephala'' *''Euryglossina atomaria'' *''Eu ...

'' **'' Euryglossula'' **'' Heterohesma'' **'' Hyphesma'' **'' Melittosmithia'' **'' Pachyprosopis'' **''

Sericogaster ''Sericogaster'' is a monotypic genus of bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees ...

'' **'' Stenohesma'' **'' Tumidihesma'' **''

Xanthesma ''Xanthesma'' is a genus of Australian bees in the family Colletidae. The genus was first described in 1965 by Charles Duncan Michener. Species The following list is of 48 valid name (zoology), valid names given at both Interim Register of Mari ...

References

External links

Image Gallery from Gembloux

Online identification guides to Eastern North American Colletidae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q132340 Bee families Taxa named by Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier