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Austroplebeia Essingtoni
''Austroplebeia essingtoni'' is a small eusocial stingless bee first described by Cockerell in 1905 and it is found in Australia (Northern areas of Western Australia and Northern Territory). They are one of the smallest stingless bees in Australia and can survive in very arid areas with annual rainfalls down to 300 mm. Etymology The name 'essingtoni' was given because the first specimens were collected from Port Essington on the north coast of Arnhem Land, Australia in 1840. Description and identification The workers (3.2-3.9mm) usually have distinct cream bands on the side and rear of the thorax and broad cream marking on the lower face. Most workers are noticeably smaller than those of the other Austroplebeia ''Austroplebeia'' is a stingless bee (Meliponini) genus in the family Apidae. The genus was erected by Jesus Santiago Moure in 1961. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eusociality
Eusociality (from Greek εὖ ''eu'' "good" and social), the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups. The division of labor creates specialized behavioral groups within an animal society which are sometimes referred to as 'castes'. Eusociality is distinguished from all other social systems because individuals of at least one caste usually lose the ability to perform at least one behavior characteristic of individuals in another caste. Eusocial colonies can be viewed as superorganisms. Eusociality exists in certain insects, crustaceans, and mammals. It is mostly observed and studied in the Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) and in Blattodea (termites). A colony has caste differences: queens and reproductive males take the roles of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stingless Bee
Stingless bees, sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (about 550 described species), comprising the tribe Meliponini (or subtribe Meliponina according to other authors). They belong in the family Apidae, and are closely related to common honey bees, carpenter bees, orchid bees, and bumblebees. Meliponines have stingers, but they are highly reduced and cannot be used for defense, though these bees exhibit other defensive behaviors and mechanisms. Meliponines are not the only type of bee incapable of stinging: all male bees and many female bees of several other families, such as Andrenidae, also cannot sting. Some stingless bees have powerful mandibles and can inflict painful bites. Geographical distribution Stingless bees can be found in most tropical or subtropical regions of the world, such as Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia, and tropical America.Michener, C D. ''The bees of the World''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 972 pp. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell
Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell (1866–1948) was an American zoology, zoologist, born at Norwood, England, and brother of Sydney Cockerell. He was educated at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, and then studied botany in the field in Colorado in 1887–90. Subsequently, he became a taxonomist and published numerous papers on the Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Mollusca and plants, as well as publications on paleontology and evolution. Personal life Cockerell was born in Norwood, Greater London and died in San Diego, California. He married Annie Sarah Fenn in 1891 (she died in 1893) and Wilmatte Porter Cockerell, Wilmatte Porter in 1900. In 1901, he named the ultramarine blue chromodorid ''Mexichromis porterae'' (now ''Felimare porterae'') in her honor. After their marriage in 1900, they frequently went on collecting expeditions together and assembled a large private library of natural history films, which they showed to schoolchildren and public audiences to promote the cause of en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austroplebeia
''Austroplebeia'' is a stingless bee (Meliponini) genus in the family Apidae. The genus was erected by Jesus Santiago Moure in 1961.BioStor /ref> The genus comprises five described species endemic to Australia and New Guinea.''Austroplebeia'' are more closed related to the African stingless bees than rest of the species found in Asia and Australia. The species of ''Austroplebeia'' are difficult to separate reliably by body size or morphology except for '' [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austroplebeia Cassiae
''Austroplebeia cassiae'' is a small eusocial stingless bee first described by Cockerell in 1910 and it is found in Australia (North and Eastern Queensland). Etymology The name 'cassiae' was given because the first specimens were collected from '' Cassia'' flowers. Description and identification The workers (3.4-4.5 mm) are darker in coloured compared to '' A. australis''. The hind edge of their thorax usually only has two ochre or cream spots, or no marking at all. Their face has a thick white hair with at least one full marking hidden underneath it. The hair on the worker's face is much denser in ''A. cassiae'' than in A. australis. The males are brightly marked. File:Austroplebeia symei female.jpg, ''Austroplebeia cassiae'' worker. Scale bars = 1 mm File:Austroplebeia symei male.jpg, ''Austroplebeia cassiae'' drone. Scale bars = 1 mm Nest building The nests of ''A. cassiae'' are usually larger in size than those of '' A. australis'' and they have more w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austroplebeia Magna
''Austroplebeia magna'' is a small eusocial stingless bee Stingless bees, sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (about 550 described species), comprising the tribe Meliponini (or subtribe Meliponina according to other authors). They belong in the family A ... first described by Dollin, Dollin and Rasmussen in 2015 and it is found in Australia (Northern Northern Territory and far North-West Queensland). Etymology The Latin feminine adjective, 'magna', meaning 'large', refers to a broad section of their legs (Basitarsus III) and long sting lancet in workers of this species. Description and identification ''A. magna'' is very similar to A. cassiae in size and colouration. The workers (3.5-4.5mm) are darker in colour compared to '' A. australis''. The hind edge of their thorax usually only has two ochre or cream spots. Their face has a thick white hair with at least one full marking hidden underneath it. Sometimes workers have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 honey production), carpenter bees, orchid bees, cuckoo bees, and a number of other less widely known groups. Taxonomy In addition to its historical classification (honey bees, bumble bees, stingless bees and orchid bees), the family Apidae presently includes all the genera formerly placed in the families Anthophoridae and Ctenoplectridae. Although the most visible members of Apidae are social, the vast majority of apid bees are solitary, including a number of cleptoparasitic species. The old family Apidae contained four tribes (Apinae: Apini, Euglossini and Bombinae: Bombini, Meliponini) which have been reclassified as tribes of the subfamily Apinae, along with all of the former tribes and subfamilies of Anthophoridae and the former f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hymenoptera Of Australia
Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or places that are otherwise inaccessible. This ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism (complete metamorphosis)—that is, they have a wormlike larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they mature. Etymology The name Hymenoptera refers to the wings of the insects, but the original derivation is ambiguous. All references agree that the derivation involves the Ancient Greek πτερόν (''pteron'') for wing. The Ancient Greek ὑμήν (''hymen'') for membrane provides a plausible etymology for the term because species in this order have membranous wings. However, a key characteristic of this order is that the hindwings are con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
