Halictinae

Abstract: “Go to the bee, and learn how diligent she is, and what a noble work she produces, whose labors kings and private men use for their use, she is desired and honored by all, and though weak in strength she values wisdom and prevails.” —Proverbs, Chapter 6, Septuagint version of the Bible The halictid bee tribe Augochlorini is revised at the level of genus and subgenus. Forty-one genera and subgenera are recognized with two being extinct. New subgenera of Augochlora, Electraugochlora, and of Oligochlora, Soliapis, are described for new fossils from Tertiary amber of the Dominican Republic. Complete taxonomic histories are given along with information on revisions at the species level, biological studies, and general distribution for each family- and genus-group taxon. The following subgenera are newly synonymized: Aethechlora new junior subjective synonym of Oxystoglossella, Mycterochlora new junior subjective synonym of Augochlora, Vachalius new junior sybjective synonym of Neocorynurella, and Neoc...

Abstract: Th e South American species of the rare bee genus Chlerogella Michener (Halictinae: Augochlorini) are revised, completing the study of the genus. Chlerogella diversity is signifi cantly expanded beyond the fi ve previously described South American species of Chlerogella azurea (Enderlein) comb. n., C. nasus (Enderlein), C. mourella Engel, C. octogesima (Brooks and Engel) comb. n., and C. buyssoni (Vachal). Twenty-two new species are described – C. agaylei sp. n., C. arhyncha sp. n., C. borysthenis sp. n., C. breviceps sp. n., C. cochabambensis sp. n., C. cooperella sp. n., C. cyranoi sp. n., C. dolichorhina sp. n., C. elysia sp. n., C. eumorpha sp. n., C. euprepia sp. n., C. hauseri sp. n., C. hypermeces sp. n., C. materdonnae sp. n., C. oresbios sp. n., C. picketti sp. n., C. rostrata sp. n., C. silvula sp. n., C. terpsichore sp. n., C. tychoi sp. n., C. vachali sp. n. C. xuthopleura sp. n. – and the distribution of the genus is expanded beyond Perú and Ecuador to include Bolivia, Colombia, and Venezuela. Th e female of C. azurea is described for the fi rst time while the placement of Halictus buyssoni Vachal in Chlerogella is considered tentative, following the usage of previous authors, as the holotype and sole specimen is untraceable. Th e genus is newly diagnosed based on a greater understanding of variation in malar length across the species and a dichotomous key is provided. New fl oral records for species of Chlerogella include Psychotria pongoana Standl. (Rubiaceae) and a putative record on Phragmopedium longifolium (Warsz. & Rchb.f.) Rolfe (Orchidaceae). ZooKeys 47: 1–100 (2010) doi: 10.3897/zookeys.47.416 www.pensoftonline.net/zookeys Copyright Michael S. Engel. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Launched to accelerate biodiversity research A peer-reviewed open-access journal

Abstract: Parasocial and primitively eusocial bees are found in various families of the Apoidea, but the majority of such forms are in the Halictinae (Family Halictidae, the sweat bees). The Halictinae are an enormous and abundant group, worldwide in distribution, arctic to tropical, and every continent has forms whose social biologies remain unknown. Although a few species nest in rotting wood, most make burrows in the soil. New and interesting types of social organization probably remain to be discovered in this subfamily, for only a tiny fraction of the species have been studied behaviorally.