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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 » Sweat, Furrow, Nomiine, and Short-faced Bees (Halictidae) » Sweat and Furrow Bees (Halictinae)

Subfamily Halictinae - Sweat and Furrow Bees

Bee ambushed by ambush bug - Lasioglossum nigroviride - female bee - Halictus parallelus - male Green sweat bee - Augochlorella aurata Green Metallic Sweat Bee ID Request - Augochlora pura - female Sweat Bee - Augochlorella aurata Bee Identification Project - Augochlora pura Lasioglossum Small Bee on Jerusalem Artichoke - Lasioglossum - 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 Halictidae (Sweat, Furrow, Nomiine, and Short-faced Bees)
Subfamily Halictinae (Sweat and Furrow Bees)
Numbers
~400 spp. in 10 genera of 2 tribes in our area, ~3,500 spp. in 55 genera of 3 tribes worldwide(1)
Range
one tribe is cosmopolitan, another is primarily neotropical, and the third is restricted to the Old World (mostly warmer parts); S. American fauna shows the most diversity at generic level(1)
Remarks
Most species nest in burrows in banks or in the ground (Augochlora uses partially rotten logs). Some are primitively eusocial; in such cases usually a female guards the entrance to the burrow by plugging it with her head. Generally the main burrow is vertical; it sends horizontal branches, each branch ending in a solitary cell. (2)
Communal nest of Agapostemon virescens
Subcortical nest of Augochlora pura
Works Cited
1.Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2024) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
2.The Bees of the World, 2nd edition
Charles D. Michener. 2007. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Contributed by Ted Kropiewnicki on 28 March, 2008 - 11:16pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Mike Quinn, John S. Ascher, v belov
Last updated 27 March, 2020 - 12:10am

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