Our understanding of bee phylogeny has improved over the past fifteen years as a result of new data, primarily nucleotide sequence data, and new methods, primarily model-based methods of phylogeny reconstruction. Phylogenetic studies based on single or, more commonly, multilocus data sets have helped resolve the placement of bees within the superfamily Apoidea; the relationships among the seven families of bees; and the relationships among bee subfamilies, tribes, genera, and species. In addition, molecular phylogenies have played an important role in inferring evolutionary patterns and processes in bees. Phylogenies have provided the comparative framework for understanding the evolution of host-plant associations and pollen specialization, the evolution of social behavior, and the evolution of parasitism. In this paper, we present an overview of significant discoveries in bee phylogeny based primarily on the application of molecular data. We review the phylogenetic hypotheses family-by-family and then describe how the new phylogenetic insights have altered our understanding of bee biology.

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Aim The evolutionary history of bees is presumed to extend back in time to the Early Cretaceous. Among all major clades of bees, Colletidae has been a prime example of an ancient group whose Gondwanan origin probably precedes the complete break-up of Africa, Antarctica, Australia and South America, because modern lineages of this family occur primarily in southern continents. In this paper, we aim to study the temporal and spatial diversification of colletid bees to better understand the processes that have resulted in the present southern disjunctions. Location Southern continents.Methods We assembled a dataset comprising four nuclear genes of a broad sample of Colletidae. We used Bayesian inference analyses to estimate the phylogenetic tree topology and divergence times. Biogeographical relationships were investigated using event-based analytical methods: a Bayesian approach to dispersal-vicariance analysis, a likelihood-based dispersal-extinctioncladogenesis model and a Bayesian model. We also used lineage through time analyses to explore the tempo of radiations of Colletidae and their context in the biogeographical history of these bees.

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The differentiation of workers into morphological castes represents an important evolutionary innovation that is thought to improve division of labor in insect societies. Given the potential benefits of task-related worker differentiation, it is puzzling that physical worker castes, such as soldiers, are extremely rare in social bees and absent in wasps. Following the recent discovery of soldiers in a stingless bee, we studied the occurrence of worker differentiation in 28 stingless bee species from Brazil and found that several species have specialized soldiers for colony defence. Our results reveal that worker differentiation evolved repeatedly during the last ~ 25 million years and coincided with the emergence of parasitic robber bees, a major threat to many stingless bee species. Furthermore, our data suggest that these robbers are a driving force behind the evolution of worker differentiation as targets of robber bees are four times more likely to have nest guards of increased size than non-targets. These findings reveal unexpected diversity in the social organization of stingless bees.

-Colletidae are unique among bees for certain aspects of their nesting biology. In this review, attributes of colletid nesting are evaluated and discussed in light of a novel phylogenetic hypothesis for the family. Some predictions made about evolution of certain traits, such as the cocoon-spinning behavior of Diphaglossinae, are confronted with phylogenetic evidence. The cellophane-like cell lining of Colletidae is a synapomorphy of this bee family, formed by polyester and characterized for being thick and strong, waterproof, and insoluble in different solvents. Historical developments towards the understanding of nature of the cell lining applied by colletids are summarized along with an account of diversity of some aspects of nesting of these bees.bee / nest / Colletidae / Stenotritidae / Dufour's gland

The mining bees (Andrenidae) are a major bee family of over 3000 described species with a nearly global distribution. They are a particularly significant component of northern temperate ecosystems and are critical pollinators in natural and agricultural settings.Despite their ecological and evolutionary significance, our knowledge of the evolutionary history of Andrenidae is sparse and insufficient to characterize their spatiotemporal origin and phylogenetic relationships. This limits our ability to understand the diversification dynamics that led to the second most species-rich genus of all bees, Andrena Fabricius, and the most species-rich North American genus, Perdita Smith. Here, we develop a comprehensive genomic dataset of 195 species of Andrenidae, including all major lineages, to illuminate the evolutionary history of the family. Using fossil-informed divergence time estimates, we characterize macroevolutionary dynamics, incorporate paleoclimatic information, and present our findings in the context of diversification rate estimates for all other bee tribes. We found that diversification rates of Andrenidae steeply increased over the past 15 million years, particularly in the genera Andrena and Perdita. This suggests that these two groups and the brood parasites of the genus Nomada Scopoli (Apidae), which are the primary cleptoparasitic counterparts of Andrena, are similar in age and represent the fastest diversifying lineages of all bees. Using our