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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, 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] |
Stingless Bee
Stingless bees (SB), sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (from about 462 to 552 described species), comprising the Tribe (biology), tribe Meliponini (or subtribe Meliponina according to other authors). They belong in the Family (biology), family Apidae (subfamily Apinae), and are closely related to common honey bees (HB, tribe Apini), orchid bees (tribe Euglossini), and bumblebees (tribe Bombini). These four bee tribes belong to the Pollen basket, corbiculate bees Monophyly, monophyletic group. 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 and Megachilidae (tribe Dioxyini), also cannot sting. Some stingless bees have powerful mandibles and can inflict painful bites. Some species ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bumblebee
A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera (e.g., ''Calyptapis'') are known from fossils. They are found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, although they are also found in South America, where a few lowland tropical species have been identified. European bumblebees have also been introduced to New Zealand and Tasmania. Female bumblebees can sting repeatedly, but generally ignore humans and other animals. Most bumblebees are eusociality, social insects that form colony (biology), colonies with a single queen. The colonies are smaller than those of honey bees, growing to as few as 50 individuals in a nest. Psithyrus, Cuckoo bumblebees are brood parasite, brood parasitic and do not make nests or form colonies; their queens aggressively invade the nests of other bumble ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apini
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 the we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eusocial
Eusociality ( Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It 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, sometimes called castes. Eusociality is distinguished from all other social systems because individuals of at least one caste usually lose the ability to perform behaviors characteristic of individuals in another caste. Eusocial colonies can be viewed as superorganisms. Eusociality has evolved among the insects, crustaceans, trematoda and mammals. It is most widespread in the Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) and in Isoptera (termites). A colony has caste differences: queens and reproductive males take the roles of the sole reproducers, while soldiers and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Carpenter Bee
Carpenter bees are species in the genus ''Xylocopa'' of the subfamily Xylocopinae. The genus includes some 500 bees in 31 subgenera. The common name "carpenter bee" derives from their nesting behavior; nearly all species burrow into hard plant material such as dead wood or bamboo. The main exceptions are species in the subgenus ''Proxylocopa'', which dig nesting tunnels in suitable soil. Characteristics Many species in this enormous genus are difficult to tell apart; most species are all black, or primarily black with some yellow or white pubescence. Some differ only in subtle morphological features, such as details of the male genitalia. Males of some species differ confusingly from the females, being covered in greenish-yellow fur. The confusion of species arises particularly in the common names; in India, for example, the common name for any all-black species of ''Xylocopa'' is ''bhanvra'' (or ''bhomora'' - ভোমোৰা - in Assamese language, Assamese), and reports a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ericrocidini
The Ericrocidini 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 .... Genera *'' Acanthopus'' *'' Aglaomelissa'' *'' Ctenioschelus'' *'' Epiclopus'' *'' Ericrocis'' *'' Hopliphora'' *'' Mesocheira'' *'' Mesonychium'' *'' Mesoplia'' 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] |
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'' (tribe Manueliini). Subdivisions The Tribes of Xylocopinae are: *The Xylocopini comprise a single genus, '' Xylocopa'', and occur in worldwide distribution, on all continents except Antarctica. *The Ceratinini comprise a single genus, '' Ceratina'', with a worldwide distribution. *The Manueliini comprise a single genus, '' Manuelia'', with only three species, which are restricted to Chile and the Lakes Region in Argentina.Engel, M. S. (2012)On the classification of the bee genus ''Manuelia'' (Hymenoptera: Apidae).''Acta Entomologica Slovenica'', 20(1) 65-72. *The Allodapini are restricted to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia, and Australasia, with a rare genus ''Exoneuridia'' also occurring in montane regions of the Middle Ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
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] |
