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Issue Apidologie
Volume 39, Number 1, January-February 2008
Insights into Bee Evolution: A Tribute to Charles D. Michener
Page(s) 176 - 188
DOI 10.1051/apido:2007062
Published online 08 April 2008

Apidologie 39 (2008) 176-188
DOI: 10.1051/apido:2007062

Faunal composition and species richness differences of bees (Hymenoptera: Apiformes) from two north American regions

Robert Minckley

Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, 14627 NY, USA

(Received 11 July 2007 - Revised 9 October 2007 - Accepted 10 October 2007 - Published online 8 April 2008)

Abstract - Host breadth and global bee species diversity are thought to be linked. Areas where bee species richness is greatest have a greater proportion of oligolectic species and fewer social species. I compared the bee faunas of two North American regions (one mesic, one xeric) and two nearby habitats (riparian and desert scrub). Species richness is greater in the xeric than in the mesic North American region. Despite strongly bimodal bloom in the xeric region and continuous bloom in the mesic region, their bee faunas were similar in the proportion of solitary oligolectic and polylectic bees. Oligolectic species of both areas have short lifespans. Social and cleptoparasitic species made up a greater percentage of the fauna in the mesic North American region. Nearby mesic and xeric habitat both had social species but xeric habitats were richer in oligolectic species. Phylogeny and historical biogeography in combination with ecology of bees and plants will be needed to understand differences of bee faunas.


Key words: biodiversity / host specialization / species gradient / pollinator / oligolecty


© INRA, DIB-AGIB, EDP Sciences 2008


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