''Euglossa'' is a

genus 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 nom ...

orchid bee The tribe Euglossini, in the subfamily Apinae, commonly known as orchid bees or euglossine bees, are the only group of corbiculate bees whose non-parasitic members do not all possess eusocial behavior. Description Most of the tribe's species ...

s (

Euglossini The tribe Euglossini, in the subfamily Apinae, commonly known as orchid bees or euglossine bees, are the only group of corbiculate bees whose non-parasitic members do not all possess eusocial behavior. Description Most of the tribe's species ...

). Like all their close relatives, they are native to the

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

; an introduced population exists in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. They are typically bright metallic blue, green, coppery, or golden. '' Euglossa intersecta'' (formerly known as ''E. brullei'') is morphologically and chromatically atypical for the genus, and resembles the related ''

Eufriesea ''Eufriesea'' is a genus of euglossine bees. Like all orchid bees, they are restricted to the Neotropics. All species range from entirely to at least partially metallic (the face and/or tegulae), though much of the body in some species may be b ...

'' in a number of characters including coloration.

Distribution

''Euglossa'' occurs naturally from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, northern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, western

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, but one species ('' E. dilemma'') has recently been introduced to

in the United States

Species

References

External links

* David Roubik (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute)
Diagnostic photographs of several ''Euglossa'' species

on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures website. {{Taxonbar, from=Q4038260 Articles containing video clips Bee genera Hymenoptera of North America Hymenoptera of South America Orchid pollinators

Distribution

Species

References

Further reading

External links