Melitta (bee)

Melitta
Melitta maura, female
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Superfamily: Apoidea
Family: Melittidae
Genus: Melitta
Kirby, 1802
Species

~40 species (see text)

Melitta is a genus of bees in the family Melittidae. It includes about 40 species restricted to Africa and the northern temperate zone. Most of the species are Palaearctic, though three rare species occur in North America.

They are bees of moderate size, generally 8 to 15 mm long. They are commonly oligolectic, with narrow host plant preferences. They resemble bees of the genus Andrena, though with radically different mouthparts and a scopa limited to the hind tibia and basitarsus.

Species

Melitta leporina, male
Melitta haemorrhoidalis, male
Melitta eickworti, female

External links

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.