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Bees - Superfamily APOIDEA
This page contains pictures and information about Bees that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- The long-tongued Blue-banded Bee
Bees belong to the insect Order Hymenoptera, which includes parasitic wasps, stinging wasps, ants and sawflies.
Most bees live as individual, although the famous Honey Bees are social insects. The solitary bees live in burrow under ground or in tree stems. In their nests, there are chambers for their larvae, beside there are the storage for the nectar and pollen. Some species bees live together and using the same entry, although each have their own nest and look after their own young.
Some bee species are social insects, only the queen lay eggs. There are the sterile workers in a large colony.
Both wasps and bees visit flowers and sometimes may be hard to distinguishing them. Most wasps larvae are either carnivorous or parasitic while bees are vegetarian. Bees larvae feed on pollen. Bees carry pollen by the hairs on their legs and body. In general bees with hairy body and legs but wasps with no or very little hairs on their body and legs.
Unlike other members in Hymenoptera, bees' mouthparts are modified to a hairy tongue, which is used for sucking up nectar from flowers. When rest bees fold their tongue in mouth in Z-shape. Besides the tongue, bees mouthpart have two strong mandibles, functioning as hands more than teethes. Besides used for eating pollen, it is for building hive, dragging, fighting and feeding the larvae.
- In Australia we have five major bee families. There are Colletidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, Anthophoridae and Apidae. Some reference books group Anthophoridae into Apidae as one family.
FAMILY
COLLETIDAE - Colletid Bees - Colletid Bees are short tongue bees. They
burrow in ground, especially in clayey soil. Some of them are hairy.
FAMILY HALICTIDAE - Nomia Bees- Bees in this family are usually black with metallic colours. They are solitary (each female bee build nest, lays and cares her own eggs) or communal (share nest with other female but care her own eggs). Females nest in ground or rotting wood, males do not nest but cluster together at night.
FAMILY MEGACHILIDAE -
Leafcutter Bees and Resin Bees- Leafcutter bees are common in Brisbane gardens. They are visitors of different flowering plants. Sometimes we find circular holes in soft-leaved plants, these are made by the female bee which uses the leaf to build her nest. She provides each egg with pollen and nectar.
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Family ANTHOPHORIDAE
- Bees - This family contains some largest bees in Australia. They make nests in dead tree branches or underground. They are solitary bees. Some members in this family, like the Carpenter Bees and Blue-banded Bees, are known as buzz pollinators. They use special technique to get pollen from flowers.
Family APIDAE
- Bees- The Apidae family includes the famous Honey Bees and the Australian Native Stingless Bees, they are the highly social insects. There are also the solitary and communal species in this family. Most of them have modified mouthparts likes a tongue which can sip nectar easily. Another characteristic are their hairy legs and pollen baskets that they used for collecting pollen and nectar for their young.
- Reference:
- 1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, pp 993.
- 2. Insects of Australia and New Zealand - R. J. Tillyard, Angus & Robertson, Ltd, Sydney, 1926, p301.
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