Apidae

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"Apid" redirects here. Not to be confused with Apis.

Apidae
Xylocopa micans (a carpenter bee), on a Vitex species flower
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Apoidea
Clade: Anthophila
Family: Apidae
Latreille, 1802
Type genus
Apis

Linnaeus, 1758
Subfamilies

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.[1][2] Many are valuable pollinators in natural habitats and for agricultural crops.[3]

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

kleptoparasitic species.[4]

The old family Apidae contained four tribes (Apinae:

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 family Ctenoplectridae, which was demoted to tribe status. The trend to move groups down in taxonomic rank has been taken further by a 2005 Brazilian classification that places all existing bee families together under the name "Apidae",[5]
but it has not been widely accepted in the literature since that time.

Subfamilies

Apinae

digger bee species, of Australian blue banded bees, approaching tomato
flower

The subfamily

eusocial
or colonial. These are sometimes believed to have each developed this trait independently, and show notable differences in such characteristics as communication between workers and methods of nest construction.

Tribes include:[2]

Nomadinae

Subfamily Nomadinae cuckoo bee species, on flower.

The subfamily

cleptoparasites
in the nests of other bees.

Tribes include:[2]

Xylocopinae

Xylocopa violacea—a subfamily Xylocopinae carpenter bee, on flower.

The subfamily Xylocopinae, which includes carpenter bees, are mostly solitary, though they tend to be gregarious. Some tribe lineages, such as the Allodapini, contain eusocial species.

Most members of this subfamily make nests in plant stems or wood.

Tribes include:[2]

See also

References

  1. PMID 22934982
    .
  2. ^ a b c d BugGuide.Net: the Family Apidae (of bees) . accessed 6.23.2013
  3. ^ a b [Michener, Charles D. (2007) The bees of the world. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore, Londres.]
  4. ISBN 0-8160-5712-5
    ]
  5. doi:10.1590/S0101-81752005000100017
    .
  6. ^
    S2CID 89812681
    .

External links

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