Hylaeus (genus)
Encyclopedia
Hylaeus is a large and diverse cosmopolitan genus within the bee family Colletidae
, consisting of generally small, black and yellow/white wasp-like species. The resemblance to wasps is enhanced by the absence of a scopa
, which is atypical among bees; Hylaeus carry pollen in the crop
, rather than externally, and regurgitate it into the cell where it will be used as larval food. Like most colletids, the liquid provisions are sealed inside a membranous cellophane-like cell lining; nests are typically in dead twigs or plant stems, or other similarly small natural cavities, rather than constructing or excavating their own nests as in many other bees.
Species include:
Colletidae
Colletidae is a family of bees, and are often referred to collectively as plasterer bees or polyester bees, due to the method of smoothing the walls of their nest cells with secretions applied with their mouthparts; these secretions dry into a cellophane-like lining...
, consisting of generally small, black and yellow/white wasp-like species. The resemblance to wasps is enhanced by the absence of a scopa
Scopa (biology)
The term scopa is used to refer to any of a number of different modifications on the body of a non-parasitic bee that form a pollen-carrying apparatus. In most bees, the scopa is simply a particularly dense mass of elongated, often branched, hairs on the hind leg...
, which is atypical among bees; Hylaeus carry pollen in the crop
Crop (anatomy)
A crop is a thin-walled expanded portion of the alimentary tract used for the storage of food prior to digestion that is found in many animals, including gastropods, earthworms, leeches, insects, birds, and even some dinosaurs.- Bees :Cropping is used by bees to temporarily store nectar of flowers...
, rather than externally, and regurgitate it into the cell where it will be used as larval food. Like most colletids, the liquid provisions are sealed inside a membranous cellophane-like cell lining; nests are typically in dead twigs or plant stems, or other similarly small natural cavities, rather than constructing or excavating their own nests as in many other bees.
Species include:
- Hylaeus alcyoneusBanksia beeThe Banksia bee is a bee species endemic to Australia where it is commonly found in the coastal heaths of eastern and southern Western Australia...
- Banksia bee - Hylaeus punctatus
- Hylaeus signatus