Halictidae

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Also see sweat bee

iHalictidae

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Hexapoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Suborder:	Apocrita
Superfamily:	Apoidea
Family:	Halictidae

Subfamilies

Halictidae is a cosmopolitan family of the order Hymenoptera consisting of small to midsize bees which are usually dark-colored and often metallic in appearance. Several species are all or partly green and a few are red; a number of them have yellow markings, especially the males, which commonly possess yellow faces, a pattern widespread among the various families of bees. They are commonly referred to as sweat bees (especially the smaller species), as they are often attracted to perspiration; when pinched, females can give a minor sting.

1 Nesting
2 Notable species
- 2.1 Eusocial species
- 2.2 Cleptoparasite species
3 List of North American genera
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Nesting

Most halictids nest in the ground, though a few nest in wood, and they mass-provision their young (a mass of pollen and nectar is formed inside a waterproof cell, an egg laid upon it, and the cell is sealed off, so the larva is given all of its food at one time, as opposed to "progressive provisioning", where a larva is fed repeatedly as it grows, as in honeybees). All species are pollen feeders and may be important pollinators.

[edit] Notable species

[edit] Eusocial species

Many species in the subfamily Halictinae are eusocial at least in part, with fairly well-defined queen and worker castes (though not the same as the caste system in honeybees), and certain manifestations of their social behavior appear to be facultative in various lineages.

[edit] Cleptoparasite species

Species in the genus Sphecodes are somewhat wasp-like in appearance and live as cleptoparasites of other bees, including other halictids; the female Sphecodes enters the cell with the provision mass, eats the host egg, and lays an egg of her own in its place. Only a few other genera and species of halictids are parasitic.