Exomalopsis

Exomalopsis
Exomalopsis similis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Superfamily: Apoidea
Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Apinae
Tribe: Exomalopsini
Genus: Exomalopsis
Spinola, 1853
Species

~90

Exomalopsis is a genus of bees in the family Apidae. They occur in the Western Hemisphere, especially in the Neotropical and Nearctic regions.[1]

Exomalopsis analis
Exomalopsis mellipes

Biology

Bees of this genus build communal nests. Several examples have been documented in the literature. E. aburraensis, for example, has been known to build its nest alongside the beekeepers' honeybee hives. It excavates a tunnel over a meter deep which then branches into many underground pathways that lead to cells where larvae hatch and develop.[1] The California species E. nitens enters cracks in dry soil and digs chambers underground. There it creates a pile of food provisions and lays eggs on top. The larvae eat the food pile and then pupate.[2] Both E. globosa and E. similis have been noted nesting in dirt roads made of gritty red clay. The gravid female piles food in a terminal cell and then molds it into a neat loaf. She lays an egg on it and then seals the cell to allow the larva to develop within.[3]

Several Exomalopsis are associated with kleptoparasites, especially cuckoo bees. Kleptoparasitic cuckoo bees of the genera Hypochrotaenia, Paranomada, Triopasites, Melanomada, and Hesperonomada have been found using Exomalopsis nests. The newly described cuckoo bee Nomada medellinenses moves into the nests of E. aburraensis and lays its eggs there.[1]

Some species are hosts for parasitoid wasps of the family Mutillidae. E. solani is parasitized by the wasp Pseudomethoca bethae and E. fulvofasciata is host to at least two species of Timulla.[4]

Taxonomy

As of 2007 there were nearly 90 described species in the genus.[5] There are many more species known that are still undescribed.[1]

Species include:[6]

Exomalopsis pulchella

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Exomalopsis.
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Velez-Ruiz, R. I. and A. H. Smith-Pardo. (2013). New species of Exomalopsis and its associated cleptoparasite Nomada from Colombia with description of the nest (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila: Apidae). ISRN Entomology 2013 865059 10 pp.
  2. ↑ Rozen, J. G. and R. R. Snelling. (1986). Ethology of the bee Exomalopsis nitens and its cleptoparasite (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae). Journal of the New York Entomological Society 94(4) 480-88.
  3. ↑ Raw, A. (1977). The biology of two Exomalopsis species (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae) with remarks on sociality in bees. Rev Biol Trop 25(1) 1-11.
  4. ↑ Aranda, R. and G. Graciolli. (2013). First report of Exomalopsis fulvofasciata (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae) as host of two Timulla species (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae). Biota Neotropica 13(4) 382-38.
  5. ↑ Michener, C. D. The Bees of the World The Johns Hopkins University Press, London. 2007. Cited in Velez-Ruiz, R. I. and A. H. Smith-Pardo. (2013). New species of Exomalopsis and its associated cleptoparasite Nomada from Colombia with description of the nest (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila: Apidae). ISRN Entomology 2013 865059 10 pp.
  6. ↑ Exomalopsis. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

Further reading

Timberlake, P. H. Review of North American Exomalopsis (Hymenoptera, Anthophoridae). University of California Press. 1980.

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