''Manuelia'' is a 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 are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

s in the subfamily

Xylocopinae The subfamily Xylocopinae (family Apidae) occurs worldwide, and includes the large carpenter bees (tribe Xylocopini), the small carpenter bees (tribe Ceratinini), the allodapine bees (tribe Allodapini), and the relictual genus '' Manuelia'' (tr ...

, the only genus in the tribe Manueliini. There are three species.Engel, M. S. (2012)
On the classification of the bee genus ''Manuelia'' (Hymenoptera: Apidae).
''Acta Entomologica Slovenica'', 20(1) 65-72. This tribe is

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

ual. Today it is limited to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. These are small, slender bees measuring up to 8.5 millimeters long. They may be metallic blue or matte black, sometimes with reddish parts on the abdomen. Because ''Manuelia'' species are so distinct from each other, the genus is divided into two subgenera.

Species

* '' Manuelia gayatina'' (Spinola, 1851) * '' Manuelia gayi'' (Spinola, 1851) * '' Manuelia postica'' (Spinola, 1851)

Notes

References

* Michener, C. D. (2007). ''The Bees of the World'', 2nd Edition, Johns Hopkins University Press. Xylocopinae Hymenoptera of South America Bee genera {{Apidae-stub