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Apoidea Bees; Apoid Wasps Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera

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IDnature guides

Apoid wasp species Apoidea genera Bee genera Bee species Insecta North American Invasives

Kinds

Ampulicidae, Ampulicid Wasps Andrenidae, Sand Bees Apidae, Long-tongued Bees Colletidae, Plaster Bees Crabronidae, Crabronid Wasps Halictidae, Sweat Bees Heterogynaidae Lithurgopsis Megachilidae, Leafcutting bees Melittidae, Melittid Bees Sphecidae, Thread-waisted wasps Stenotritidae

Index

• Overview
• CLICK HERE to jump right to bee identification guides
• Identification guides to bee species
• Searchable list of all bees in the world, click on "Checklist" in the header to list all the names AND all the synonyms
• Interactive lists of all world's bees by country
• Geographic distribution
• References
• Acknowledgements

• Apoidea is a superfamily composed of the bees and apoid wasps. At this point in time this page primarily presents information on North American bees. We encourage others to expand these guides to bees world wide as well as develop those for the sphecoid wasps.

Identification

• Start the identification process by determining the bee genus you have using the guide below
  
  
  • Bee Genera of North America, the Caribbean, and Mexico

• Species Guides - All eastern North American species are completed or in draft form, while some are being expanded westward and are noted below. We are adding pictures and text weekly to the guides. (W) indicates a guide with western species added.(E) indicates a bee that is the sole member of its genus in the East, but for which additional species exist in the West AND for which no guide to the species of North America currently exists. The Panurgus and Dasypoda guides are for Europe.

  Note that individual Guides open in a New Window when clicked upon.
  

• Genera



Agapostemon (W) Ancylandrena (W) Ancyloscelis (W) Andrena female (W) Andrena male (W) Anthidiellum (W) Anthidium Anthophora female (W) Anthophora male (W) Anthophorula Ashmeadiella Atoposmia female Atoposmia male Augochlora (W) Augochloropsis (W) Augochlorella (W) Bombus (W) Calliopsis Caupolicana (W) Centris female (W) Centris male (W) Ceratina elsewhere there are guides to males and females these are drafts you should ignore these! Chelostoma

Coelioxys female Coelioxys male Colletes female Colletes male Conanthalictus female Conanthalictus male Dianthidium Diadasia Dieunomia (W) Dioxys (W) Dufourea Epeoloides (W) Epeolus female Epeolus male Ericrocis (W) Eucera Eucera (Great Basin) Exomalopsis (W) Florilegus condignus(E) Habripoda laboriosa(E) Halictus (W) Heriades Hesperapis Holcopasites Hoplitis Hylaeus female Hylaeus male

Lasioglossum Lasioglossum_Dialictus_male (draft SEA) Lasioglossum_Dialictus_female (draft SEA) Lithurgopsis and Lithurgus (W) Macropis (W) Martinapis (W) Megachile female Megachile male, there are draft western guides that may show up in the system, you should ignore those Megachilidae genera Melecta pacifica (E) Megandrena (W) Melissodes female Melissodes male Melitta (W) Melitoma (W) Mesoxaea (W) Micralictoides (W) Neolarra cockerelli(E) Neopasites (W) Nomada female Nomada male Nomia (W) Osmia female Osmia male Panurginus

Paranomada (W) Peponapis(W) Perdita female Perdita male Protandrena Protodufourea (W) Pseudopanurgus female Pseudopanurgus male Ptilothrix bombiformis (E) Ptiloglossa (W) Rhopalolemma (W) Sphecodes male (draft) Sphecodes female (draft) Sphecodosoma (W) Stelis Svastra Tetraloniella Trachusa Triepeolus female Triepeolus male Xenoglossa Xeralictus (W) Xeromelecta (W) Xylocopa male (W) Xylocopa female (W)

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Bee genera
Sphecidae
Chrysididae
Acmaeodera Flower Beetles
Vespinae Yellow Jackets and Hornets of North America
Bumblebees & Mimics -- North America - for use by general audiences, taxonomy out of date, bee experts should ALWAYS use the Bombus guide above.


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• Eastern North American Bee Families - No guide to families available, use the Genera Key above

• Andrenidae - Andrena, Calliopsis, Panurginus, Perdita, Protandrena, Pseudopanurgus
• Apidae - Anthophora, Anthophorula , Apis, Bombus, Cemolobus , Centris, Ceratina, Epeoloides, Epeolus, Ericrocis, Eucera, Euglossa, Exomalopsis, Florilegus, Habropoda, Holcopasites, Melecta, Melissodes, Melitoma, Neolarra, Nomada, Peponapis, Ptilothrix, Svastra, Tetraloniella, Triepeolus, Xenoglossa, Xeromelecta, Xylocopa
• Halictidae - Agapostemon, Augochlora, Augochlorella, Augochloropsis, Dieunomia, Dufourea, Halictus, Lasioglossum, Nomia, Sphecodes
• Colletidae - Caupolicana, Colletes, Hylaeus
• Megachilidae - Anthidiellum, Anthidium, Ashmeadiella, Chelostoma, Coelioxys, Dianthidium, Heriades, Hoplitis, Lithurgus, Megachile, Osmia, Paranthidium, Stelis, Trachusa
• Mellitidae - Hesperapis, Macropis, Melitta

• How to Use the Bee Guides - Read this to better understand how a different mindset is needed to best use these guides when compared to the traditional dichotomous guides

Currently, although many identification guides now encompass all relevant bees for the whole of the United States, a large number of the bee species guides remain specific only to those bees present East of the Mississippi.

Ultimately, all North American bees will be included and we hope to collaborate with other researchers to create or link to identification guides

for the bees and sphecid wasps of the world.

The links below are organized by bee genera as well as a guide to the identity of the genera of Eastern North American bees.

You can email Sam Droege to obtain a more detailed document on how to use these identification guides.

Methods and Identification Tools

• Tips for identification, monitoring, collecting, and processing specimens:
  

  The Handy Bee Manual

• Join the bee identification and monitoring discussion group or read past email at:
  

  http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/beemonitoring

• YouTube Videos on catching and processing bee specimens:
  

  http://www.youtube.com/swdroege

• Online and downloadable slide shows demonstrating the identification of bee genera:
  

  http://www.slideshare.net/sdroege

• Glossary of terms that describe bees

• Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist, Ascher and Pickering.

• Apoid wasp species guide and North American checklist

• Interactive checklists of world bees by country, Ascher & Pickering, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Currently based on data from the American Museum of Natural History, Leah Larkin's Andrena Database, the Snow Entomology Museum at the University of Kansas entered from an NSF grant, Sam Droege's USGS collections, and other databases, including ones contributed through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Note that there are many more genera than are listed on the links below. which largely cover only Eastern bee species in the United States for which we have identification guides. Eventually we will have lists for all species on all continents. In the meantime species not listed below can be viewed by going to the Global Mapper and typing in the species' name. This same site can be used to map any individual species.
Please contact Sam if you have geo-referenced data that can be added to this site.

Agapanthinus Agapostemon Ancylandrena Ancyloscelis Andrena Anthemurgus Anthidiellum Anthidium Anthophora Anthophorula Apis Ashmeadiella Atoposmia Augochlora Augochlorella Augochloropsis Bombus Brachymelecta Brachynomada Calliopsis Caupolicana Cemolobus

Centris Ceratina Chelostoma Coelioxys Colletes Conanthalictus Diadasia Dianthidium Dieunomia Dioxys Dufourea Epeoloides Epeolus Ericrocis Eucera Euglossa Eulaema Eulonchopria Exomalopsis Florilegus Gaesischia Habropoda

Halictus Heriades Hesperapis Hexepeolus Holcopasites Hoplitis Hylaeus Lasioglossum Leiopodus Lithurgus Macropis Macrotera Martinapis Megachile Megandrena Melecta Melissodes Melissoptila Melitoma Melitta Mesoplia Mesoxaea

Mexalictus Micralictoides Neolarra Neopasites Nomada Nomia Odyneropsis Oreopasites Osmia Panurginus Paranomada Paranthidium Peponapis Perdita Protandrena Protodufourea Protosmia Protoxaea Pseudaugochlora Pseudoanthidium Pseudopanurgus Ptiloglossa

Ptilothrix Rhopalolemma Simanthedon Sphecodes Sphecodosoma Stelis Svastra Syntrichalonia Temnosoma Tetraloniella Townsendiella Trachusa Triepeolus Xenoglossa Xeralictus Xeroheriades Xeromelecta Xylocopa Zacosmia

References

• Gauld, Ian D. and Barry Bolton (Eds.) 1988. The Hymenoptera. British Museum (Natural History). Oxford University Press, New York. ISBN 0-19-858521-7.
• Michener, Charles D. 2000. The Bees of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. ISBN 0-8018-6133-0.
• Native Pollinator References

• Sam Droege
  Stephanie Kolski
  United States Geological Survey
• John Ascher, American Museum of Natural History
• John Pickering, University of Georgia, Athens

Funding for this project provided by:

• The Ambrose Monell Foundation
• The USGS National Biological Information Infrastructure
• The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

We thank Denise Lim, Rachelle Wallace, and Amberlie McKee for technical support in developing this page.