Bees of New York State
Table of Contents
	Table of Contents	New York Species

INTRODUCTION

Photo of Melissodes sp.

The bees comprise a group of over 16,000 described species (Michener 2000). Bees are closely related to the sand wasps, from which they are derived. Numerous differences distinguish the bees from the sand wasps. Among the most important is that bees are herbivores, feeding on pollen and nectar of angiosperm plants; whereas sand wasps are carnivores and feed their young on insects and spiders as a source of protein. Other morphological features unique to bees include their finely branched hairs (visible only under the microscope) and the expanded hind basitarsus (a segment of the hind leg) in females. These and other characteristics of bees are adaptations for collecting pollen rather than invertebrate prey.

Bees are extraordinarily diverse in morphology (anatomy) and behavior. Bees have their greatest diversity in arid and semiarid regions of the world, including Mediterranean climate regions, such as southern Europe, southern Africa, western Australia, arid parts of Chile and Argentina, and deserts of North America. Nevertheless, we have a fascinating and diverse fauna of bees in New York, in some cases with species or genera derived from these hyper-diverse areas. Many people are familiar with the most common bees, including honey bees (Apis mellifera) and bumble bees (the genus Bombus). However, bees in the genera Apis and Bombus make up only a tiny fraction of all the bees in the world. Below, we provide an overview of the bees one is likely to encounter in New York State.

This web site was developed by the New York State Biodiversity Project
and is maintained by the New York State Biodiversity Research Institute