Melittidae
Encyclopedia
The family Melittidae is a small bee
family, with some 60 species in 4 genera, restricted to Africa
and the northern temperate zone. Historically, the family has included the Dasypodaidae
and Meganomiidae
as subfamilies, but recent molecular studies indicate that Melittidae (sensu lato) was paraphyletic, so each of the three historical subfamilies is now accorded family status, with Dasypodaidae as the basal group of bees, followed by Meganomiids and Melittids, which are sister taxa..
They are typically small to moderate-sized bees, which often have shaggy scopae
, and are commonly oligolectic, several species further specializing on floral oils as larval food rather than pollen, including Rediviva emdeorum, a highly unusual species in which the forelegs are longer than the entire body, and used to sponge up the floral oil at the end of elongated corolla spurs of the host plant, Diascia
.
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, with some 60 species in 4 genera, restricted to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and the northern temperate zone. Historically, the family has included the Dasypodaidae
Dasypodaidae
The family Dasypodaidae is a small bee family, with more than one hundred species in eight genera, found in Africa and the northern temperate zone, primarily in xeric habitats....
and Meganomiidae
Meganomiidae
The family Meganomiidae is a very small bee family, with 10 species in 4 genera, found primarily in Africa, primarily in xeric habitats, with the distributional limits in Yemen and Madagascar...
as subfamilies, but recent molecular studies indicate that Melittidae (sensu lato) was paraphyletic, so each of the three historical subfamilies is now accorded family status, with Dasypodaidae as the basal group of bees, followed by Meganomiids and Melittids, which are sister taxa..
They are typically small to moderate-sized bees, which often have shaggy scopae
Scopa (biology)
The term scopa is used to refer to any of a number of different modifications on the body of a non-parasitic bee that form a pollen-carrying apparatus. In most bees, the scopa is simply a particularly dense mass of elongated, often branched, hairs on the hind leg...
, and are commonly oligolectic, several species further specializing on floral oils as larval food rather than pollen, including Rediviva emdeorum, a highly unusual species in which the forelegs are longer than the entire body, and used to sponge up the floral oil at the end of elongated corolla spurs of the host plant, Diascia
Diascia (plant)
Diascia is a genus of around 70 species of annual and perennial flowering herbs of the Scrophulariaceae family, native to southern Africa, including South Africa, Lesotho and neighbouring areas....
.