Melissodes Latreille 1829

Melissodes spp. are small to medium sized bees, ranging from 7.5 to 18 mm long. They are robust with fuzzy yellow hairs and conspicuous hairy legs. The front part of the female's face is usually yellow. Like most bees in the tribe Eucerini, males have long antennae. Males are long-bodied, while females have short antennae and are round-bodied. These bees are restricted to the New World. Melissodes spp are generally solitary bees. Solitary bees usually build and live in individual nests rather than in a hive or with a colony of bees, while social or communal bees do live colonially in hives or bee communities.

Most Melissodes spp. are solitary ground-nesters. However, there are some species that nest communally with several individuals using one burrow. Females line each brood cell with a wax-like material that she secretes. Each cell is provisioned with a nectar and pollen mixture and a single egg. Larvae hatch and turn into pupae. After a period of inactivity, adult bees emerge.

Melissodes is a genus of long-horned bees in the family Apidae. There are 129 described species in Melissodes.

ITIS Taxonomic note:

The gender of the name "Melissodes" has traditionally been considered as feminine by taxonomists. However, ICZN Commissioner Doug Yanega (in litt., May 2008) has indicated that the sex should be masculine under ICZN Art. 30.1.4.4, which explicitly states that all genera ending in "-odes" are masculine unless the original author declared otherwise. Since Latreille did not specify a gender when proposing the name in 1829, this Code Article applies in this case.