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The Evolution Of Parasitism Among Bees, George E. Bohart

Faculty Honor Lectures

Before discussing parasitic bees, I will present a rough outline of the biology of "ordinary" or non-parasitic bees. The superfamily Apoidea (bees) includes perhaps 25,000 or 30,000 species divided into nine families by recent authorities (Stephen, Bohart, Torchio, 1969) . A common biological thread holding this vast assemblage together is the provision by adults of pollen and nectar for their young. Only in the honey bees (the genus Apis which includes four species) are the larvae fed primarily on a different substance (a secretion of the pharyngeal glands) , and even this is derived from pollen and honey eaten by …