The most up-to-date and authoritative resource on the biology and evolution of solitary bees
While social bees such as honey bees and bumble bees are familiar to most people, they comprise less than 10 percent of all bee species in the world. The vast majority of bees lead solitary lives, surviving without the help of a hive and using their own resources to fend off danger and protect their offspring. This book draws on new research to provide a comprehensive and authoritative overview of solitary bee biology, offering an unparalleled look at these remarkable insects.
The Solitary Bees uses a modern phylogenetic framework to shed new light on the life histories and evolution of solitary bees. It explains the foraging behavior of solitary bees, their development, and competitive mating tactics. The book describes how they construct complex nests using an amazing variety of substrates and materials, and how solitary bees have co-opted beneficial mites, nematodes, and fungi to provide safe environments for their brood. It looks at how they have evolved intimate partnerships with flowering plants and examines their associations with predators, parasites, microbes, and other bees. This up-to-date synthesis of solitary bee biology is an essential resource for students and researchers, one that paves the way for future scholarship on the subject.
Beautifully illustrated throughout, The Solitary Bees also documents the critical role solitary bees play as crop pollinators, and raises awareness of the dire threats they face, from habitat loss and climate change to pesticides, pathogens, parasites, and invasive species.

The Solitary Bees: Biology, Evolution, Conservation

Science & Math

Danforth, Bryan N.

Minckley, Robert L.

Neff, John L.

Biological Sciences

Princeton University Press

For years entomologists, ecologists, and botanists interested in pollination problems have urged bee specialists to prepare a key for identifying bee genera in North and Central America. Although regional keys exist, this extensively field-tested reference is the first to facilitate identification to the genus level of bees throughout the Northern (American) Hemisphere. More than 500 drawings and photographs illustrate nearly every step in this key to the 169 genera, with text in both English and Spanish. In the introduction, the authors describe how researchers already familiar with bee genera can streamline their use of the keys. Along with the comprehensive classification and discussion of features, the authors also provide practical advice to students embarking on their first attempts at bee identification. The notes on each genus give its range (for North and Central America), number of species, references to any revisional studies, subgenera, if any, and distinguishing features. The book indicates nest sites for those bees that do not nest in the ground and identifies hosts for socially parasitic and cleptoparasitic genera. The authors list changes in classification and nomenclature and summarize the current classification by genera and subgenera. The Bee Genera of North and Central America offers in one convenient volume an unprecedented compendium for entomologists, ecologists, beekeepers, and scientists involved in pollination studies.

The Bee Genera of North and Central America: Hymenoptera Apoidea (English and Spanish Edition)

Michener, Charles D.

McGinley, Ronald J.

Smithsonian Inst. Pr.

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Books by Danforth, Bryan N.