The Colletidae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 superfami ...

s, and are often referred to collectively as plasterer bees or polyester bees, due to the method of smoothing the walls of their nest cells with secretions applied with their mouthparts; these secretions dry into a cellophane-like lining. C. D. Michener (2007) ''The Bees of the World'', 2nd Edition, pg. 133, Johns Hopkins University Press. The five subfamilies, 54

genera 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 nomenclat ...

, and over 2000

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

are all (with the known exception of but one species, '' Amphylaeus morosus'') evidently solitary, though many nest in aggregations. Two of the subfamilies, Euryglossinae and Hylaeinae, lack the external pollen-carrying apparatus (the scopa) that otherwise characterizes most bees, and instead carry the pollen in their crops. These groups, and most genera in this family, have liquid or semiliquid pollen masses on which the larvae develop. They can be found all over the world, but the most species live in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. Over 50% of all bee species living in Australia belong to this family. Only the genera '' Colletes'' and '' Hylaeus'' can be found in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, while in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, in addition to these two, the genera '' Caupolicana'', '' Eulonchopria'', and '' Ptiloglossa'' are found. Australian genera include '' Euhesma'', a large genus, members of which has been split off into other genera such as '' Euryglossa'' and '' Callohesma''. Unequal Cellophane Bee (Colletes inaequalis)

Unequal Cellophane Bee (Colletes inaequalis)

Traditionally, this family is believed to be likely the most "primitive" among extant bees, based primarily on the similarities of their mouthparts (the unique possession among bees of a bilobed glossa) to those of Crabronidae (the putative ancestors of bees), but recent molecular studies have disproved this hypothesis, placing the

Melittidae Melittidae is a small bee family, with over 200 described species in three subfamilies. The family has a limited distribution, with all described species restricted to Africa and the northern temperate zone. Fossil melittids have been found oc ...

('' sensu lato'') as the basal group of bees.

"Nocturnal" species

The Colletidae are one of the four bee families that contain some

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of dayli ...

species (of both the " vespertine" and " matinal" types). These bees, as is typical in such cases, have greatly enlarged

ocelli A simple eye (sometimes called a pigment pit) refers to a form of eye or an optical arrangement composed of a single lens and without an elaborate retina such as occurs in most vertebrates. In this sense "simple eye" is distinct from a multi-l ...

. The other families with some crepuscular species are

Andrenidae The Andrenidae (commonly known as mining bees) are a large, nearly cosmopolitan family of solitary, ground-nesting bees. Most of the family's diversity is located in temperate or arid areas (warm temperate xeric). It includes some enormous gener ...

Halictidae Halictidae is the second-largest family of bees (clade Anthophila) with nearly 4,500 species. Halictid species are an extremely diverse group that can vary greatly in appearance. These bees occur all over the world and are found on every continen ...

, and

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 ...

Systematics

*Subfamily Colletinae — worldwide **Tribe Paracolletini ***'' Brachyglossula'' ***'' Callomelitta'' ***'' Chrysocolletes'' ***'' Eulonchopria'' ***'' Glossurocolletes'' ***'' Hesperocolletes'' ****'' Hesperocolletes douglasi'' ***'' Leioproctus'' ***'' Lonchopria'' ***'' Lonchorhyncha'' ***'' Neopasiphae'' ***'' Niltonia'' ***'' Paracolletes'' ***'' Phenacolletes'' ***'' Trichocolletes'' **Tribe Colletini ***'' Colletes'' ***'' Mourecotelles'' **Tribe Scraptrini ***'' Scrapter'' *Subfamily Diphaglossinae — Americas **Tribe Caupolicanini ***'' Caupolicana'' ***'' Crawfordapis'' ***'' Ptiloglossa'' **Tribe Diphaglossini ***'' Cadeguala'' ***'' Cadegualina'' ***'' Diphaglossa'' **Tribe Dissoglottini ***'' Mydrosoma'' ***'' Mydrosomella'' ***'' Ptiloglossidia'' *Subfamily Xeromelissinae — tropical Americas **'' Chilicola'' **'' Chilimelissa'' **'' Geodiscelis'' **'' Xenochilicola'' **'' Xeromelissa'' '' Hylaeus'' sp. on ''Allium'' flower. *Subfamily Hylaeinae — yellow-faced bees, worldwide **'' Amphylaeus'' **'' Calloprosopis'' **'' Hemirhiza'' **'' Hylaeus'' **'' Hyleoides'' **'' Meroglossa'' **'' Palaeorhiza'' **'' Xenorhiza'' *Subfamily Euryglossinae — Australian **'' Brachyhesma'' **'' Callohesma'' **'' Dasyhesma'' **'' Euhesma'' **'' Euryglossa'' **'' Euryglossina'' **'' Euryglossula'' **'' Heterohesma'' **'' Hyphesma'' **'' Melittosmithia'' **'' Pachyprosopis'' **'' Sericogaster'' **'' Stenohesma'' **'' Tumidihesma'' **'' Xanthesma''

References

External links

Image Gallery from Gembloux

Online identification guides to Eastern North American Colletidae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q132340 Bee families Taxa named by Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier