Apis nearctica
Encyclopedia
Apis nearctica is an extinct species of honey bee
which existed in what is now the United States
, during the middle Miocene
period. It was described by Michael S. Engel
, Ismael A. Hinojosa-Díaz, and Alexandr P. Rasnitsyn in 2009, and is the first fossil honey bee described from the New World
.
Honey bee
Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
which existed in what is now the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, during the middle Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
period. It was described by Michael S. Engel
Michael S. Engel
Michael S. Engel is an American paleontologist and entomologist. He has undertaken field work in Central Asia, Asia Minor, and the Western Hemisphere, and published more than 300 papers in scientific journals. He was trained at the University of Kansas where in 1993 he received a B.S. in Cellular...
, Ismael A. Hinojosa-Díaz, and Alexandr P. Rasnitsyn in 2009, and is the first fossil honey bee described from the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
.