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 superfamily Apoidea. They are currently considered a clade, called Anthophila. There are over 20,000 known species of bees in seven recognized biological families. Some species – including honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees – live socially in colonies while most species (>90%) – including mason bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, and sweat bees – are solitary.
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
Megachilidae is a cosmopolitan family of mostly solitary bees. Characteristic traits of this family are the restriction of their pollen-carrying structure to the ventral surface of the abdomen, and their typically elongated labrum. Megachilid genera are most commonly known as mason bees and leafcutter bees, reflecting the materials from which they build their nest cells ; a few collect plant or animal hairs and fibers, and are called carder bees, while others use plant resins in nest construction and are correspondingly called resin bees. All species feed on nectar and pollen, but a few are kleptoparasites, feeding on pollen collected by other megachilid bees. Parasitic species do not possess scopae. The motion of Megachilidae in the reproductive structures of flowers is energetic and swimming-like; this agitation releases large amounts of pollen.
Mason bee is a name now commonly used for species of bees in the genus Osmia, of the family Megachilidae. Mason bees are named for their habit of using mud or other "masonry" products in constructing their nests, which are made in naturally occurring gaps such as between cracks in stones or other small dark cavities. When available, some species preferentially use hollow stems or holes in wood made by wood-boring insects.
Zoophily, or zoogamy, is a form of pollination whereby pollen is transferred by animals, usually by invertebrates but in some cases vertebrates, particularly birds and bats, but also by other animals. Zoophilous species frequently have evolved mechanisms to make themselves more appealing to the particular type of pollinator, e.g. brightly colored or scented flowers, nectar, and appealing shapes and patterns. These plant-animal relationships are often mutually beneficial because of the food source provided in exchange for pollination.
Passiflora lutea, commonly known as yellow passionflower, is a flowering perennial vine in the family Passifloraceae, native to the central and eastern United States. The vine has three-lobed leaves and small, yellowish-green, fringed flowers that appear in the summer, followed by green fruit that turn almost black at maturity. It grows in moist to wet habitats.
Habropoda laboriosa, the southeastern blueberry bee, is a bee in the family Apidae. It is native to the eastern United States. It is regarded as the most efficient pollinator of southern rabbiteye blueberries, because the flowers require buzz pollination, and H. laboriosa is one of the few bees that exhibit this behavior. It is active for only a few weeks of the year, while the blueberries are in flower during early spring, when the temperature is warm and humid. H. laboriosa are solitary bees that live alone but nest in close proximity with other nests of their species. They have similar features to bumble bees, but they are smaller in size compared to them. H. laboriosa are arthropods so they have segmented bodies that are composed of the head, thorax, and abdomen.
The name squash bee, also squash and gourd bee, is applied to two related genera of bees in the tribe Eucerini; Peponapis and Xenoglossa. Both genera are oligoleges on the plant genus Cucurbita and closely related plants, although they usually do not visit watermelon, cucumber, and melon plants. They are small genera, containing only 13 and 7 described species, respectively, and their combined range is nearly identical to the range of Cucurbita in the New World, from South America to North America. Their range has become somewhat expanded along with the movement of cucurbits into other areas.
In zoology, a palynivore /pəˈlɪnəvɔːɹ/, meaning "pollen eater" is an herbivorous animal which selectively eats the nutrient-rich pollen produced by angiosperms and gymnosperms. Most true palynivores are insects or mites. The category in its strictest application includes most bees, and a few kinds of wasps, as pollen is often the only solid food consumed by all life stages in these insects. However, the category can be extended to include more diverse species. For example, palynivorous mites and thrips typically feed on the liquid content of the pollen grains without actually consuming the exine, or the solid portion of the grain. Additionally, the list is expanded greatly if one takes into consideration species where either the larval or adult stage feeds on pollen, but not both. There are other wasps which are in this category, as well as many beetles, flies, butterflies, and moths. One such example of a bee species that only consumes pollen in its larval stage is the Apis mellifera carnica. There is a vast array of insects that will feed opportunistically on pollen, as will various birds, orb-weaving spiders and other nectarivores.
Bombylius major is a parasitic bee mimic fly. B. major is the most common type of fly within the Bombylius genus. The fly derives its name from its close resemblance to bumblebees and are often mistaken for them.
Anthemurgus passiflorae is a small, black, bee that occurs from central Texas to North Carolina and north to Illinois. Females of this solitary bee use collected nectar and pollen to feed larvae located in nests constructed in the ground. This uncommon bee is unusual for two reasons: first, the only known pollen host is a single species—the yellow passionflower ; second, because of its size and foraging habits, the passionflower bee is thought to contribute little or nothing toward the pollination of its host plant. Female bees remove pollen from P. lutea by suspending themselves under an anther and scraping the pollen out with open mandibles. This unique position of pollen collection almost never results in pollination as the female bee rarely touches the stigma. The genus Anthemurgus contains only the passionflower bee and thus is a monotypic taxon, though some recent authorities treat Anthemurgus as a monotypic subgenus within the genus Pseudopanurgus (e.g.).
Andrena agilissima is a species of mining bee. They are present in most of Europe, the Near East and North Africa and can be found from April through July. Andrena agilissima is an oligolectic species, feeding only on the pollen of a few genera of Cruciferous vegetables.
The 'Tapinotaspidini' are a tribe of apid bees. They belong to the order Hymenoptera and the family Apidae. The Tapinotaspidini tribe consists of 180 different species. Many species of Apidae are recognised as oil-collecting bees and Tapinotaspidini possess this oil-collecting behaviour. It is maintained that mutualism exists between oil secreting flowers and oil collecting Tapinotaspidini bees. Morphological and molecular phylogenies have found that the trait of oil-collecting is polyphyletic. Tapinotaspidini are solitary bees which collect oil sources from flowers belonging to the families of Malpighiaceae, Solanaceae, Orchidaceae, Calceolariaceae, Iridaceae, Plantaginaceae, Melastomataceae and Krameriaceae. Tapinotaspidini species differ in terms of being generalist and specialist oil-collectors. Selected species exclusively obtain floral oil from one family of flowering plants, whilst many Tapinotaspidini species employ a range of plant families to fulfil their oil-collecting behaviour.
Turnera subulata is a species of flowering plant in the passionflower family known by the common names white buttercup, sulphur alder, politician's flower, dark-eyed turnera, and white alder. Despite its names, it is not related to the buttercups or the alders. It is native to Central and South America, from Panama south to Brazil. It is well known in many other places as an introduced species, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, several other Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, and Florida in the United States.
Pollination traps or trap-flowers are plant flower structures that aid the trapping of insects, mainly flies, so as to enhance their effectiveness in pollination. The structures of pollination traps can include deep tubular corollas with downward pointing hairs, slippery surfaces, adhesive liquid, attractants, flower closing and other mechanisms.
Ptilothrix is a genus within the tribe Emphorini of the family Apidae. Bees of this genus can range from 7 to 15 mm. Ptilothrix species are solitary, ground-nesting bees. These bees have especially prominent hairs in the scopae of their hind legs, to help gather pollen to provision their nests. Ptilothrix species specialize on certain families of plants for their pollen, including the families Malvaceae, Convolvulaceae, Onagraceae, Cactaceae, Pontederiaceae, and Asteraceae. The genus is found in the New World, with species ranging across the Americas.
Macropis nuda is a ground nesting, univoltine bee native to northern parts of North America. Thus, this species cocoons as pupae and hibernates over the winter. The species is unusual as it is an oligolectic bee, foraging exclusively for floral oils and pollen from Primulaceae of the species Lysimachia ciliata.
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.
Sildalcea campestris is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common name meadow checker-mallow. It is native only to portions of western Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America.
The genus Chalepogenus, consisting of 21 species of solitary oil-collecting apid bees, demonstrates oligolecty by foraging on oil-producing flowers from the families Calceolariaceae, Iridaceae and Solanaceae. These oil-flowers are abundant in South America, where Chalepogenus is endemic. In contrast to honey bees, Chalepogenus species do not collect nectar; instead, they gather floral oil for various purposes, including provisioning their larvae, constructing nests, and sustaining foraging adult bees. Although oil collection has been reported to be performed by females only, both males and females have specialised oil-collecting structures.
