| Amegilla asserta | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Foraging female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Apidae |
| Genus: | Amegilla |
| Subgenus: | Zonamegilla |
| Species: | A. asserta |
| Binomial name | |
| Amegilla asserta (Cockerell, 1926) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Amegilla asserta is a species of bee endemic to Australia, belonging to the family Apidae subfamily Apinae. Females forage by performing buzz pollination.[ citation needed ]
Amegilla asserta is found in eastern Australia, from Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, across temperate regions of Victoria and New South Wales, and along the east coast of Queensland. [2] The range includes the cities of Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. A. asserta is the more common of the two species found in Melbourne, [3] followed by A. chlorocyanea.
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, carpenter bees, orchid bees, cuckoo bees, and a number of other less widely known groups. Many are valuable pollinators in natural habitats and for agricultural crops.
The Anthophorini are a large tribe in the subfamily Apinae of the family Apidae. Species in this tribe are often referred to as digger bees, although this common name is sometimes also applied to members of the tribe Centridini. It contains over 750 species worldwide, all of which were previously classified in the obsolete family Anthophoridae along with members of several other tribes; the vast majority of species in the tribe Anthophorini are in the genera Amegilla and Anthophora.
The bee genus Anthophora is one of the largest in the family Apidae, with over 450 species worldwide in 14 different subgenera. They are most abundant and diverse in the Holarctic and African biogeographic regions. All species are solitary, though many nest in large aggregations. Nearly all species make nests in the soil, either in banks or in flat ground; the larvae develop in cells with waterproof linings and do not spin cocoons. Males commonly have pale white or yellow facial markings, and/or peculiarly modified leg armature and hairs. Anthophora individuals can be distinguished from the very similar genus Amegilla by the possession of an arolium between the tarsal claws.
Australian native bees are a group of bees that play a crucial role in the pollination of native plants. There are over 1,700 species of native bees in Australia, ranging from small solitary bees to the social stingless bees. Native bees are important for native ecosystems, providing pollination services to native plants, and hold value for Australian agriculture.
Trigona is one of the largest genera of stingless bees, comprising about 32 species, exclusively occurring in the New World, and formerly including many more subgenera than the present assemblage; many of these former subgenera have been elevated to generic status.
Amegilla is a large genus of bees in the tribe Anthophorini.
Amegilla cingulata is a species of blue-banded bee native to Australia. Currently, several scientific organizations are conducting research on how A. cingulata benefits agriculture through its distinctive "buzz pollination".
Amegilla bombiformis, commonly known as the teddy bear bee or golden haired mortar bee, is an Australian native bee in the family Apidae.
Thyreus caeruleopunctatus, commonly known as the chequered cuckoo bee, is a parasitic bee of the genus Thyreus, also called cuckoo bees. It is a stocky bee, notable for its brilliant metallic blue and black banded colors. Like other Thyreus, they are kleptoparasites of Amegilla species. They are found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Amegilla dawsoni, sometimes called the Dawson's burrowing bee, is a species of bee that nests by the thousands in arid claypans in Western Australia. It is a long tongued bee, of the tribe Anthophorini and genus Amegilla, the second largest genus in Anthophorini.
Amegilla quadrifasciata, the white-banded digger bee, is a species of bee belonging to the family Apidae subfamily Apinae.
Manuelia is a genus of bees in the subfamily Xylocopinae, the only genus in the tribe Manueliini. There are three species.
Sphecodopsis is a genus of cleptoparasitic cuckoo bees in the family Apidae. Endemic to southern Africa, the wasp-like bees of this genus are generally small, varying from 3.9 to 9 mm in length, and mostly black, with orange-ish or reddish colouring of the metasoma in some of the species. The bee genus Scrapter is recognised as a host for the cleptoparasitic life cycle of some Sphecodopsis, but further data regarding preferred hosts is not available for most of the species.
Thyreus lugubris, common name the domino cuckoo bee, is a species of Australian native bee belonging to the family Apidae, subfamily Apinae.
Protohabropoda is an extinct genus of bees in the family Apidae known from a fossil found in Europe. The genus currently contains a single described species Protohabropoda pauli.
Josephine Christina Cardale worked as an entomologist for CSIRO from 1967 to 2001. She was a collection manager of Hymenoptera at the Australian National Insect Collection.
Epeolus lectoides, the cuckoo bee, is a species of cuckoo bee in the family Apidae. It is found in North America. Hosts include Colletes latitarsis and Colletes nudus.
Epeolus bifasciatus is a species of cuckoo bee in the family Apidae. It is found in Central America and North America. It is a parasite of Colletes latitarsis.
Austroplebeia is a stingless bee (Meliponini) genus in the family Apidae. The genus was erected by Jesus Santiago Moure in 1961. The genus comprises five described species endemic to Australia and New Guinea.Austroplebeia are more closely related to the African stingless bees than rest of the species found in Asia and Australia.
Amegilla albiceps is a species of bee native to Australia. It has a southern temperate distribution, with records from South Australia and Victoria. A member of the genus Amegilla, it was described in 1951 by Tarlton Rayment. Adults have been found from October to April, and they have been observed visiting flowers of the mistletoe genus Amyema.