Oxaeinae

Oxaeinae
Oxaeinae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Apoidea
Family: Andrenidae
Subfamily: Oxaeinae
Genera

Mesoxaea
Notoxaea
Oxaea
Protoxaea

Oxaeinae are an exclusively American subfamily of the bee family Andrenidae, consisting of large (13-26 mm), fast-flying bees, often with large eyes. There are only four constituent genera, with a total of 19 described species ranging from the United States to Argentina. There are still some resources in which the name Oxaeidae is used, and treated as a family, but they were relegated to subfamily status in 1995.

They can be best recognized by the extremely low position of the ocelli on the face, a feature not shared by any other large bees. Their nests are deep burrows in the ground, and provisions are a soupy mixture of pollen and nectar in cells with a waxlike waterproof lining.

References

  • C. D. Michener (2007) The Bees of the World, 2nd Edition, Johns Hopkins University Press.
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