Oxaeinae
Encyclopedia
Oxaeinae are an exclusively American
subfamily of the bee
family Andrenidae
, consisting of large (13-26 mm), fast-flying bees, often with large eyes. There are only four constituent genera, with a total of 19 described species ranging from the United States
to Argentina
. There are still some resources in which the name Oxaeidae is used, and treated as a family, but they were relegated to subfamily status in 1995.
They can be best recognized by the extremely low position of the ocelli
on the face, a feature not shared by any other large bees. Their nests are deep burrows in the ground, and provisions are a soupy mixture of pollen and nectar in cells with a waxlike waterproof lining.
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
subfamily of the bee
Bee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
family Andrenidae
Andrenidae
The family Andrenidae is a large cosmopolitan non-parasitic bee family, with most of the diversity in temperate and/or arid areas , including some truly enormous genera...
, consisting of large (13-26 mm), fast-flying bees, often with large eyes. There are only four constituent genera, with a total of 19 described species ranging from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. There are still some resources in which the name Oxaeidae is used, and treated as a family, but they were relegated to subfamily status in 1995.
They can be best recognized by the extremely low position of the ocelli
Ocellus
A simple eye refers to a type of eye design or optical arrangement that contains a single lens which detect light. A "simple eye" is so-called in distinction from a multi-lensed "compound eye", and is not necessarily at all simple in the usual sense of the word...
on the face, a feature not shared by any other large bees. Their nests are deep burrows in the ground, and provisions are a soupy mixture of pollen and nectar in cells with a waxlike waterproof lining.