Halictinae

Halictinae
Halictus scabiosae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Halictidae
Subfamily: Halictinae
Tribes[1]

Within the insect order Hymenoptera, the Halictinae are the largest, most diverse, and most recently diverged of the four halictid subfamilies.[2] They comprise over 2400 bee species belonging to the five taxonomic tribes Augochlorini, Thrinchostomini, Caenohalictini, Sphecodini, and Halictini, which some entomologists alternatively organize into the two tribes Augochlorini and Halictini.[2]

The subfamily Halictinae also belongs to the hymenopteran monophyletic clade Aculeata, whose members are characterized by the possession of a modified ovipositor in the form of a venomous sting for predator and prey defense.[3][4] Including all eusocial and cleptoparasitic Halictidae taxa,[1] these small bees are pollen feeders who mass provision their young and exhibit a broad spectrum of behavioral social polymorphies, ranging from solitary nesting to obligate eusociality.[5] Estimated from the fossil record, eusociality in this subfamily evolved about 20 to 22 million years ago, which is relatively recent in comparison with other inferred eusociality origins.[1][4] Thus, the Halictinae are believed to model the primitive eusociality of advanced eusocial hymenopterans.[1] Because of their polymorphic sociality and recently evolved eusociality, the Halictinae are valuable to the study of social evolution.[2]

  1. ^ a b c d Danforth, B. N.; et al. (2008). "Phylogeny of Halictidae with emphasis on endemic African Halictinae" (PDF). Apidologie. 39: 86–101. doi:10.1051/apido:2008002.
  2. ^ a b c Schwarz, M. P.; et al. (2007). "Changing Paradigms in Insect Social Evolution: Insights from Halictine and Allodapine Bees". Annual Review of Entomology. 52: 127–150. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.51.110104.150950. hdl:2328/9446. PMID 16866635.
  3. ^ Andersson, M. (1984). "The Evolution of Eusociality". Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 15: 165–189. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.15.110184.001121.
  4. ^ a b Brady, S. G.; et al. (2009). "Bees, ants, and stinging wasps (Aculeata)" (PDF). The Timetree of Life: 264–269. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-19.
  5. ^ Arenson, L.; Wcislo, W. T. (2003). "Dominant-subordinate Relationships in a Facultatively Social, Nocturnal Bee, Megalopta genalis (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 76 (2): 183–189. JSTOR 25086104.