Eastern North American Andrenidae, bees, taxonomy, distribution, identification

Andrenidae Colletidae Melittidae A guide to their identification in Eastern North America

Acknowledgements
This presentation has been put together by a consortium of North American bee biologists
This presentation has developed over many years and the original web picture acknowledgements were lost, if you see one of your pictures let us know and we will add your picture credit
Correspondence can be sent to Sam Droege at sdroege@usgs.gov

Format
Each Genus has an information page followed by a page of illustrations and a map of the distribution of Eastern North American species; western populations of Eastern species are shown, but the Western species are not mapped.
The number of Eastern species are listed at the top of the page

Groups of Genera
Andrenidae
Andrena
Calliopsis
Panurginus
Perdita
Protandrena
Pseudopanurgus
Colletidae
Caupolicana
Colletes
Hylaeus
Melittidae
Hesperapis
Macropis
Melitta

Family: Andrenidae
Comprised of the following Genera:
Andrena – 116 species
Calliopsis - 3
Panurginus - 3
Perdita -26
Protandrena - 3
Pseudopanurgus - 15

Andrena
Prominent facial fovea on females
Most species black a few with reddish abdomens
Some males and females with yellow on clypeus
Many species are pollen specialists
Many subtle characters available to separate species, but when using guides score these very conservatively as there are more opportunities for error when the species number is high and the number of questions long and then double check against species accounts and the complete scoring for the species.
Similar genera: Melitta, Colletes, Lasioglossum

Andrena - 116

Calliopsis
Inhabits open fields.
The very common C. andreniformis often inhabits heavily used playing fields and other human-impacted sites.
Small size, 2-submarginal cells, the bright yellow legs of the male and the 3 vertical ivory-colored facial markings of the females are a distinctive combination

Calliopsis - 3 Small, C. andreniformis Common in Highly Disturbed Areas

Panurginus
Small, spring, uncommon, black species
Males often having yellow on their face
2 submarginal cells
Close to Pseudopanurgus (which are mostly Fall species), but told apart by first recurrent and first transcubital veins directly intersecting
Pre-episternal groove completely absent, but usually very hard to see
Similar Genera: Pseudopanurgus, Perdita, Protandrena

Panurginus - 3 Tiny and Uncommon

Perdita
Among the smallest of bees
Most males and females have patterns of white or pale yellow on their face, thorax and abdomen.
Most females with very thin and sparse tibial scopa
Short, truncated marginal cell
Uncommonly collected but can be common in sandy localities
Similar Genera: Pseudopanurgus, Panurginus, Protandrena

Perdita - 26 Tiny, Sand-Lover

Protandrena
A very uncommon group in the East
3 submarginal cells
Best told by keying them out through the guide
Similar Genera: Andrena, panurginus, Pseudopanurgus

Protandrena - 3 Rare

Pseudopanurgus
Fall species, often on composites
Similar to Panurginus
Small, dark bees, with 2 marginal cells
Pre-episternal groove present, sometimes very weak and hard to see, running down and to the front from upper end of the mesepisturnum, in some minute species this is visible only at upper end
First transcubital vein does not meet the first recurrent vein; first recurrent vein shifted slightly to the interior of the second submarginal cell
Males have often extensive amounts of yellow on their faces.
Can be difficult to differentiate species
Similar Genera: Panurginus, Protandrena, Perdita

Pseudopanurgus - 15 Tiny, Uncommon

Colletidae
Comprised of the following genera:
Caupolicana – 2 species
Colletes – 35 species
Hylaeus – 24 species

Caupolicana
A rarely observed genus restricted to coastal dune areas in the deep south and the sandy central Florida Ridge
These fast flying large species are usually only active at dawn and dusk
2 submarginal cells
The first recurrent vein usually joins or nearly joins the first transcubital vein

Caupolicana - 2 Deep South, Deep Sand Specialist, Very rare

Colletes
General body shape often similar to a honeybee
Face heart-shaped due to the angling inward of the compound eyes
Distinctive in that the lower portion of the second recurrent arches out toward wing tip
Similar Genus: Apis

Colletes - 35

Hylaeus
Black, small, thin-elongate body, with relatively few hairs and no scopa as this genus carries pollen internally
Most females have elongate, thin, diamond yellow or ivory markings in the paraocular area between the eye and the clypeus/antennae
Males usually have more extensive yellow facial markings, with yellow throughout the area below the antennae

Hylaeus - 24 Common, masked, no scopa

Melittidae
Comprised of the following genera:
Hesperapis – 2 species
Macropis – 4 species
Melitta – 3 species

Hesperapis
Extremely uncommon bees
Restricted to coastal barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico and dunes of the Great Lakes
Abdomen noticeably flattened and integument soft compared to other groups
Similar Genus: Calliopsis

Hesperapis - 2 Very Rare, Deep South Barrier Islands

Macropis
Rare bees, apparently much less common than in the past
Associated with loosestrife ( Lysimachia) plants
Small, dark bees, males with extensive yellow facial markings, 2 submarginal cells

Macropis - 4 Small, Rare Bee, Oil Specialist, Loosestrife

Melitta
Andrena like, rarely encountered pollen specialists on Ericaceous shrubs
Scopal hairs on female only on tibia not on femur and trochanter-like Andrena
Females also lack facial foveae, unlike Andrena
Males lack a basitibial plate
Similar Genus: Andrena

Melitta - 3 Uncommon, Specialist

Resources
Species lists, Identification Guides, and Maps for genera and species are available at:
http://www.discoverlife.org/20/q?search=Apoidea
A guide to the genera of the bees of Canada is available at:
http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/ejournal/pgs_03/pgs_03.html
Mitchell’s 1960’s book on the bees of the Eastern United States is available as a series of pdf files at:
http://insectmuseum.org/easternBees.php
A slightly out of date guide to the identification of the genera of ALL of North America is available at:
http://www.knoxcellars.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=KCNP&Product_Code=BGNA&Category_Code=BL

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Eastern North American Andrenidae, bees, taxonomy, distribution, identification

by Sam Droege on Dec 09, 2008

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Eastern North American Andrenidae, bees, taxonomy, distribution, identification — Presentation Transcript