![]() ![]() Their behavior within the flower also covers them in pollen. Carry pollen in a specialized structure (scopa) on the belly rather than on hind legs or internally, limiting their ability to carry pollen efficiently back to the nest and thus requiring more frequent trips to flowers. Named for the materials they gather to make their nests. Megachilidae: Leaf-cutter bees, mason bees, orchard bees, carder bees that are found worldwide. Some make products that are used by humans. Solitary to eusocial, some even parasitizing other bees by stealing their resources (kleptoparasitism), such as cuckoo bees, which lay their eggs on pollen collected by their host bees. With or without functional ovipositor (sting). Cuckoo, carpenter, digger, bumble, stingless, and honey bees that are found worldwide. Believed to date back as far as 115 million years ago the oldest known fossilized bee is from this family. Their range of social systems makes them a fascinating group to use for studying the evolution of social living.Īpidae: Largest bee family, made up of over 5,700 species. Highly social, but there are also solitary Halictids. Tend to be picky specialists concerning their food source, sometimes forgoing pollen for flower oils. Melittidae: Primitive family, the least changed of all bees since the split from wasps. Similar to Colletidae, but with one mouthpart instead of Colletidae’s distinct two. Stenotritidae: The smallest family of bees. Can have large ocelli (simple eyes), helping them to see in dim light. Some transport pollen by swallowing and regurgitating it, rather than by carrying it outside their bodies like most other bees, while other Colletidae carry pollen on leg hairs. A unique two-part tongue is used to create remarkable nest burrows lined with smooth secretions. Typically Australian, with some species in South America and a few in North America and Europe. Nest in simple soil burrows, or in hives that require multimodal communication to achieve complex architecture.Ĭolletidae: Plasterer bees, masked bees, yellow-faced bees, polyester bees. Wasp legacy visible in facial structure eyebrow-like colored patterns, males with facial hair, which might be used for recognition of individuals, but Andrenidae have more advanced eyes. Read more about these families below and see which broad group they fall into.Īndrenidae: Mining bees, found in temperate, arid, warm climates. The long-tongued bees sip nectar from deep within the floral chambers, while the shorter-tongued bees tend to be more ancient, more closely resembling their carnivorous wasp ancestors.īiologists classify all bee species into the Apidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, Andrenidae, Colletidae, Melittidae, and Stenotritidae families. The estimated 20,000 species of bees are classified into seven distinct families, which can be divided into three broad groups according to the average length of the bee’s tongue, called a proboscis. Adaptive radiation proliferated across the globe, which meant that different types of bees evolved as they matched the wide variety of environments, habitats, and flowers. ![]() The global abundance of flowering plants from about 100 million years ago opened up a world of opportunity for the vegetarian wasps we now know as bees. In this post and thanks to the information provided by Noah’s book, we will go over the various types of bee families, types of bees, how anyone can not only identify and attract these pollinators, but how you can help them, too. –– Interested to know how the bees are doing? Download our State of the Honey Bee Report now –– So much so that Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Noah Wilson-Rich even wrote a book titled The Bee: A Natural History. When thinking of bees, many picture golden honeybees that forage on flowering plants and produce delicious honey within a hive–but bees are an immensely diverse species, and honeybees are just one part of an estimated 20,000 types of bees! The topic of bee species, their behaviors, and how we can help improve the overall population is something The Best Bees Company is very passionate about. How to Help Support the Health of All Types of Bees.Honey Bee Hive Hierarchy: The 3 Roles in a Hive. ![]()
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