Xylocopinae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Hymenopterida
Ordo: Hymenoptera
Subordo: Apocrita
Superfamilia: Apoidea

Familia: Apidae
Subfamilia: Xylocopinae
Tribus (4 + 1): Allodapini - Ceratinini - Manueliini - Xylocopini - †Boreallodapini

Overview of genera (16)

Allodape – Allodapula – Braunsapis – Ceratina – Compsomelissa – Effractapis – Eucondylops – Exoneura – Exoneurella – Exoneuridia – Hasinamelissa – Macrogalea – Manuelia – Megaceratina – Nasutapis – Xylocopa
Name

Xylocopinae

References

Flores-Prado, L.; Flores, S.V.; McAllister, B.F. 2010: Phylogenetic relationships among tribes in Xylocopinae (Apidae) and implications on nest structure evolution. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 57(1): 237–244. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2010.06.019 Reference page.
Lucia, M.; Alvarez, L.J.; Abrahamovich, A.H. 2012: Gynandromorphism in Xylocopinae Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae): description of four new cases. Zootaxa 3401: 37–42. Preview Reference page.

Vernacular names
日本語: クマバチ亜科

The subfamily Xylocopinae (family Apidae) occurs worldwide, and includes the large carpenter bees (tribe Xylocopini), the small carpenter bees (tribe Ceratinini), the allodapine bees (tribe Allodapini), and the relictual genus Manuelia (tribe Manueliini).[1]

Subdivisions

The Tribes of Xylocopinae are:

The Xylocopini comprise a single genus, Xylocopa, and occur in worldwide distribution, on all continents except Antarctica.
The Ceratinini comprise a single genus, Ceratina, with a worldwide distribution.
The Manueliini comprise a single genus, Manuelia, with only three species, which are restricted to Chile and the Lakes Region in Argentina.[2]
The Allodapini are restricted to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia, and Australasia, with a rare genus Exoneuridia also occurring in montane regions of the Middle East.
The Boreallodapini is extinct, and known from specimens in amber.[2]

Description

Some Xylocopinae have a cavity between the thorax and abdomen, called acarinarium, which provides accommodation for a colony of predatory mites, cleaning their hosts of external parasites.[3]

The vast majority of the Xylocopinae species make nests in dead wood, stems, or pith, and while many are solitary, many are also communal or primitively social. Some genera of Allodapines commonly form eusocial colonies.
See also

Bee taxa by rank

References

C. D. Michener (2007) The Bees of the World, 2nd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press.
Engel, M. S. (2012). On the classification of the bee genus Manuelia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Acta Entomologica Slovenica, 20(1) 65-72.
"The Arthropods of Southern Africa" - Holm & Dippenaar-Schoeman (Lapa 2010)