''Perdita'' is a large genus of small bees native to North America, particularly diverse in the desert regions of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

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 ...

. There are over 600 currently recognized species of ''Perdita'', plus more than 100 additional subspecies and many more species that remain undescribed. ''Perdita'' are usually quite small (2.0 mm to 10.0 mm) and often brightly colored with metallic reflections and/or yellow or white markings, and among the few lineages of bees incapable of stinging. The genus was extensively treated by P.H. Timberlake who, in addition to T.D.A. Cockerell, described most of the known species. Most species are extreme specialists (

oligolege The term oligolecty is used in pollination ecology to refer to bees that exhibit a narrow, specialized preference for pollen sources, typically to a single family or genus of flowering plants. The preference may occasionally extend broadly to mu ...

s) with respect to pollen and will only collect pollen from a few closely related species or genera of plants. Many species in this genus are called fairy bees. They may be parasitized by ''

Neolarra ''Neolarra'' is a genus of cuckoo bees in the family Apidae. There are about 16 described species in ''Neolarra'', all from North America. Description Smaller than a grain of rice, these bees lay eggs in the nests of '' Perdita'' bees; the ''Ne ...

'' cuckoo bees, which lay eggs in their nests given the opportunity.

References

External links

Perdita Identification Guide (female)Perdita Identification Guide (male)List of SpeciesWorldwide Species MapBugguide
Andrenidae Bee genera {{Andrenidae-stub

See also

References

External links