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Halictidae

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Superfamily: Apoidea
Family: Halictidae
Subfamilies
  • Halictinae
  • Nomiinae
  • Nomioidinae
  • Rophitinae

Halictidae is a cosmopolitan family of the order Hymenoptera consisting of small (> 4 mm) to midsize (> 8 mm) bees which are usually dark-colored and often metallic in appearance. Arthropods are Animals belonging to the Phylum Arthropoda (from Greek ἄρθρον arthron, " Joint " The subphylum Hexapoda (from the Greek for six legs) constitutes the largest (in terms of number of species grouping of Arthropods and includes the Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described Hymenoptera is one of the larger orders of Insects comprising the sawflies, Wasps Bees and Ants The name refers to In Biogeography, a Biological category of living things is said to have cosmopolitan distribution if this category can be found almost anywhere around the world Hymenoptera is one of the larger orders of Insects comprising the sawflies, Wasps Bees and Ants The name refers to Bees are flying Insects closely related to Wasps and Ants Bees are a Monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea Several species are all or partly green and a few are red; a number of them have yellow markings, especially the males, which commonly possess yellow faces, a pattern widespread among the various families of bees. They are commonly referred to as sweat bees (especially the smaller species), as they are often attracted to perspiration; when pinched, females can give a minor sting. Sweat bee is the common name for any bees that are attracted to the salt in human perspiration

Contents

Nesting

Most halictids nest in the ground, though a few nest in wood, and they mass-provision their young (a mass of pollen and nectar is formed inside a waterproof cell, an egg laid upon it, and the cell is sealed off, so the larva is given all of its food at one time, as opposed to "progressive provisioning", where a larva is fed repeatedly as it grows, as in honey bees). A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs and/or provide a place to raise their offspring This article refers collectively to all true honey bees for the "common" domesticated honey bee see European honey bee Honey bees All species are pollen feeders and may be important pollinators. Pollen is a fine to coarse powder consisting of microgametophytes ( pollen grains) which produce the male Gametes (sperm cells of A pollinator is the biotic agent ( vector) that moves Pollen from the male Anthers of a Flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish

Notable species

Eusocial species

Many species in the subfamily Halictinae are eusocial at least in part, with fairly well-defined queen and worker castes (though not the same as the caste system in honey bees), and certain manifestations of their social behavior appear to be facultative in various lineages. Eusociality ( Greek eu: "good" + "social" is a term used for the highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification This article refers collectively to all true honey bees for the "common" domesticated honey bee see European honey bee Honey bees

Cleptoparasitic species

Several other genera and species of halictids are cleptoparasites of other bees (mostly other halictids), and the behavior has evolved at least nine times independently within the family. Kleptoparasitism or cleptoparasitism (literally Parasitism by Theft) is a form of Feeding where one animal takes Prey from another The most well-known and common are species in the genus Sphecodes, which are somewhat wasp-like in appearance (often shining black with blood-red abdomen- German: Blutbienen - usually 4-9 mm in body length); the female Sphecodes enters the cell with the provision mass, eats the host egg, and lays an egg of her own in its place. A wasp is any Insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a Bee nor Ant.

"Nocturnal" species

The Halictidae is one of the four bee families that contains some species that are crepuscular; these halictids are active only at dusk or in the early evening, and therefore technically considered "vespertine" (e. Crepuscular is a term used to describe animals that are primarily active during Twilight, hence at Dawn and at Dusk. Vespertine is a term used in the life sciences to indicate something of relating to or occurring in the evening g. in the subgenus Sphecodogastra of Lasioglossum), or sometimes truly nocturnal (e. The sweat bee Genus Lasioglossum is one of the largest of all bee genera containing several hundred species in numerous subgenera worldwide g. in the genus Megalopta). These bees, as is typical in such cases, have greatly enlarged ocelli. An ocellus (plural ocelli) is a type of Photoreceptor organ in animals The other families with some crepuscular species are Andrenidae, Colletidae, and Apidae. The family Andrenidae is a large (nearly cosmopolitan (absent in Australia non-parasitic Bee family with most of the diversity in temperate and/or arid areas (warm temperate Colletidae is a family of Bees and are often referred to collectively as plasterer bees, due to the method of smoothing the walls of their nest cells with

Agapostemon sp. The Genus Agapostemon is a common group of Western hemisphere sweat bees of generally green or blue appearance (head and thorax always

A Halictid Bee

Systropha planidens

Augochloropsis metallica female

List of North American genera

Rophitinae:

Nomiinae:

Halictinae:

External links

References

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