Monographic revision of the melittid bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Melittidae sensu lata)

摘要

The popularity of bees is mainly due to a single species, the domestic honeybee although there are in fact thousands of different wild bees. Bees constitute a monophyletic group including 16,000 species in seven families. In this presentation, we propose an overview of one key group in the bee phylogeny: the Melittidae s.l. We show information about their diversity, biogeography and biology. Moreover, we investigate the origin of Melittidae s.l. and the characteristics of their early diversification.