Eufriesea

Taxobox
name = "Eufriesea"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
familia = Apidae
subfamilia = Apinae
tribus = Euglossini
genus = "Eufriesea"
genus_authority = Cockerell, 1908
diversity_link = Eufriesea
diversity = > 60 species
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =see text
synonyms ="Plusia"
"Euplusia"
"Eumorpha"
"Eufriesia"

"Eufriesea" is a genus of euglossine bees. Like all orchid bees, they are restricted to the Neotropics.

They are of metallic or brown/black color and hairy.

Distribution

"Eufriesea" is the most widely distributed genus of euglossines. Specimens have been found from Mexico to central Argentina [dos Anjos-Silva "et al." 2006] .

"E. purpurata"

At least one of its species, "Eufriesea purpurata" from Brazil, has been shown to selectively collect large quantities of the insecticide DDT without any apparent adverse effects. Individual bees were observed to collect as much as 2 mg, which is in the percent range of body weight. The males of orchid bees are known to collect aromatic fragrances from certain kinds of orchids, and it is thought that they use these in territorial display and courtship, probably as precursors of their own pheromones. Some orchid bees have also been found to collect fragrances from rotten wood.

Name

The genus is named after entomologist Heinrich Friese.

pecies

Footnotes

References

* (1982): Male "Eufriesia [sic] purpurata", a DDT-collecting euglossine bee in Brazil. "Nature" 297: 62-63. doi|10.1038/297062a0
* (2006): Occurrence of "Aglae caerulea" Lepeletier & Serville (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossini) in the Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Guimarães, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. "Neotrop. Entomol." 35(6) doi|10.1590/S1519-566X2006000600024
*

Further reading

* (1993): Nonfloral sources of chemicals that attract male euglossine bees (Apidae: Euglossini). "Journal of Chemical Ecology" 19(12): 1573-1561. doi|10.1007/BF00980599
* (2004): Phylogeny and Biology of Neotropical Orchid Bees (Euglossini). "Annual Review of Entomology" 49: 377-404. doi|10.1146/annurev.ento.49.072103.115855
* (1989): "Ecology and natural history of tropical bees". New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
* (2007): Revisiting the organohalogens associated with 1979-samples of Brazilian bees ("Eufriesea purpurata"). "Science of The Total Environment" 377: 371-377. doi|10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.02.009

External links

* David Roubik (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute): Diagnostic photographs of several "Eufriesea" species:: [http://pick5.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Eufriesea+mussitans "E. mussitans"] · [http://pick5.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Eufriesea+ornata "E. ornata"] · [http://pick5.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Eufriesea+pulchra "E. pulchra"] · [http://pick5.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Eufriesea+purpurata "E. purpurata"] · [http://pick5.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Eufriesea+surinamensis "E. surinamensis"]