Diadasia

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Diadasia
Diadasia bee on opuntia blossom.jpg
Diadasia bee on opuntia blossom
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Tribe: Emphorini
Genus: Diadasia
Patton, 1879

Diadasia is a genus of bees in the family Apidae. Its species are oligolectic, specialized on a relatively small number of plant species.

Their host plants include asters, bindweeds, cacti, mallows, and willowherbs, although mallows are the most common and likely ancestral host plant for the whole genus. Its tribe is Emphorini. [1] In the Sonoran Desert, Diadasia rinconis is considered the "cactus bee" as it feeds almost exclusively on a number of Sonoran Desert cactus species, its life cycle revolving around the flowering of the native species of cacti. [2]

Members of this genus are often attacked by a variety of parasitoids from the families Bombyliidae, Mutillidae, Ripiphoridae and Meloidae. [3]

Species

These 42 species belong to the genus Diadasia. [4] [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. Sipes, Sedonia D.; Tepedino, Vincent J. (2005). "Pollen-host specificity and evolutionary patterns of host switching in a clade of specialist bees (Apoidea: Diadasia)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 86 (4): 487–505. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2005.00544.x .
  2. "Bees".
  3. Linsley, E. G.; MacSwain, J. W. (Fall 1957). "The Nesting Habits, Flower Relationships, and Parasites of Some North American Species of Diadasia (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae)". Wasmann Journal of Biology. 15 (2). University of San Francisco.
  4. "Diadasia Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  5. "Diadasia Overview". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  6. "Browse Diadasia". Catalogue of Life. Archived from the original on 2018-03-05. Retrieved 2018-03-04.