ENY 3005 Family Identification

Hymenoptera: Apidae Pronunciation: AY-pi-dee Common names: digger bees, carpenter bees, bumble bees, honey bees, and others Etymology: api (Latin), a bee

Identifying characteristics for the family Apidae include:

• As in other families of the superfamily Apoidea, the Apidae have:
• a collarlike pronotum without projections that reach the tegulae,
• body hairs that are branched or plumose, and
• first segment of the metatarsus often enlarged and flattened.
• Front wing with three submarginal cells
• Hind wing with jugal lobe shorter than the submedian cell.

• A large family with considerable variation in appearance and habits.
• Very important as pollinators of many agricultural crops.
• Three subfamilies:
• Anthophorinae - digger bees, cuckoo bees
• Xylocopinae - carpenter bees
• Apinae - honey bees, bumble bees

References:

• Page 358 and plate 16 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Page 390 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
• Page 732 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.
• Pages 597-600 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.

Links to other web sites

• APIS Newsletter Home Page -- Monthly newsletter for Florida bee keepers from the University of Florida apiculturist, Dr. M. T. Sanford.
• AgNews -- Africanized Honey Bees
• Solitary Bees - Gordon's Insect World
• Social Bees - Gordon's Insect World
• About Africanised Honey Bees - Gordon's Insect World
• Bee Species of South Florida. - A guide to the identification and biology of the Apoidea of the region.
• Bumble bees, Bombus spp.  
• Small carpenter bees, Ceratina spp.   
• Large carpenter bees, Xylocopa spp.