Brief Summary
provided by Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico
This is a large family of pollen-collecting bees which is present on all the continents except Australia. Nearly all of the species excavate their nests in the ground and most are solitary although a few species in each of the two subfamilies live in colonies. Their intrafloral relationships are varied and range from numerous examples of oligolecty in varying degrees to broad patterns of polylecty. ~Even though both subfamilies are well represented in America north of Mexico by a great many species, the majority of our fauna consists of the chiefly Holarctic genus Andrena and the Nearctic genus Perdita.
- bibliographic citation
- Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico. 1979. Prepared cooperatively by specialists on the various groups of Hymenoptera under the direction of Karl V. Krombein and Paul D. Hurd, Jr., Smithsonian Institution, and David R. Smith and B. D. Burks, Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Insect Identification and Beneficial Insect Introduction Institute. Science and Education Administration, United States Department of Agriculture.
