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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees » Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees (Apidae) » Carpenter and Small carpenter Bees (Xylocopinae) » Small Carpenter Bees (Ceratina)

Genus Ceratina - Small Carpenter Bees

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Life Cycle · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
MD Bee needs ID - Ceratina strenua - female unknown hymenopteran - Ceratina - male Small carpenter bee - Ceratina - female Bee 8837 - Ceratina - female Small Carpenter Bee? - Ceratina calcarata - male Small bee - Ceratina strenua - female Carpenter Bee - Ceratina Bee - Ceratina - female small bee - Ceratina cockerelli - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
No Taxon (Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees)
Family Apidae (Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees)
Subfamily Xylocopinae (Carpenter and Small carpenter Bees)
Genus Ceratina (Small Carpenter Bees)
Explanation of Names
Ceratina Latreille, 1802
Latreille originally designated the genus 'Clavicera', but the name was preoccupied.
The name Ceratina comes from the Latin 'cornu', meaning horn referring to the antennae. (Latreille, 1802)
Numbers
24 spp. in 4 subgenera in our area, 351 spp. in 22 subgenera worldwide(1)
Subgenus not yet in the guide is Euceratina (a palaearctic group, with a single adventive species in our area, 38 spp. total)(1)
Size
≤8 mm
Identification
The easiest method of separating Ceratina from Xylocopa is by size: Ceratina are under 8 mm in length whereas Xylocopa are 20 mm or larger. In addition, Ceratina has the second submarginal cell about as high as wide basally, whereas in Xylocopa it is about half as high as wide basally.
According to(2) C. (Zadontomerus) dupla may serve as an example: Body bluish green, clypeus with oblong, median maculation; antennae brownish basally, spurs pale yellow. Adults visit raspberry and goldenrod flowers particularly but also many others. They nest in sumac and elder stems.
Features that help with ID of this genus : club-shaped abdomen, dull metallic color and inconspicuous hair. Males have larger white markings on the face. (Eric Eaton)

The clublike abdomen narrows to an abrupt point(3)


A wing for comparison.
Range
Worldwide
Discover Life Map(1)
Life Cycle
They excavate nests with their mandibles in the pith of broken or burned plant twigs and stems. Females overwinter as adults in partially or completely excavated stems. In the spring, this resting place (hibernaculum) is modified into a brood nest by further excavation.
Print References
Latreille, P. A. (1802). Histoire naturelle: générale et particulière des crustacés et des insectes T.3
--Original Description - Here
Internet References
Discover Life
Fact sheet(4)
Works Cited
1.Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2024) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
2.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
3.The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America's Bees.
Joseph S. Wilson & Olivia J. Messinger Carril. 2015. Princeton University Press.
4.University of Florida: Featured Creatures
Contributed by Joel Kits on 16 April, 2005 - 8:48pm
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Beatriz Moisset, Chuck Entz, John S. Ascher, Aaron Schusteff, v belov, Marci Hess, Nathaniel Green
Last updated 29 April, 2024 - 10:47am

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