Honey Bees, Bumble Bees, and Allies
Lat. “Apidae“ family
of epifamily
“Bees“ 1 family, 1 genus, 4 species
The family Apidae includes all the genera formerly placed in the families Anthophoridae and Ctenoplectridae, in addition to honey bees, bumble bees, stingless bees, and orchid bees. Although social bees are the most visible members of Apidae, the majority are actually solitary, including some cleptoparasitic species. The old family Apidae contained four tribes, which have been reclassified as tribes of the subfamily Apinae, along with other tribes and subfamilies. A Brazilian classification in 2005 attempted to place all bee families under the name “Apidae,” but it has not been widely adopted.
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 Ctenoplectridae. Although the most visible members of Apidae are social, the vast majority of apid bees are solitary, including a number of cleptoparasitic species.The old family Apidae contained four tribes (Apinae: Apini, Euglossini and Bombinae: Bombini, 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”, but it has not been widely accepted in the literature since that time.
See also
Bee (mythology)
List of crop plants pollinated by bees
External links
BugGuide.Net: Family Apidae—Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees; and other bees .
BugGuide.net: Native Bees of North America
