Ceratina

The cosmopolitan bee genus Ceratina, often referred to as small carpenter bees, is the sole lineage of the tribe Ceratinini, and is not closely related to the more familiar carpenter bees. The genus presently contains over 300 species in 23 subgenera. They make nests in dead wood, stems, or pith, and while many are solitary, a number are subsocial, with mothers caring for their larvae, and in a few cases where multiple females are found in a single nest, daughters or sisters may form very small, weakly eusocial colonies (where one bee forages and the other remains in the nest and lays eggs). One species is unique for having both social and asocial populations, Ceratina australensis, which exhibits all of the pre-adaptations for successful group living. This species is socially polymorphic with both solitary and social nests collected in sympatry. Social colonies in that species consist of two foundresses, one contributing both foraging and reproductive effort and the second which remains at the nest as a passive guard. Cooperative nesting provides no overt reproductive benefits over solitary nesting in this population, although brood survival tends to be greater in social colonies. Maternal longevity, subsociality and bivoltine nesting phenology in this species favour colony formation, while dispersal habits and offspring longevity may inhibit more frequent social nesting in this and other ceratinines.

Ceratina are commonly dark, shining, even metallic bees, with fairly sparse body hairs and a weak scopa on the hind tibia. Most species have some yellow markings, most often restricted to the face, but often elsewhere on the body. They are very commonly mistaken for "sweat bees" (family Halictidae), due to their small size, metallic coloration, and some similarity in wing venation; they can be easily separated from halictids by the mouthparts (with a long glossa) and the hindwings (with a tiny jugal lobe).

In Ceratina nigrolabiata, a Mediterranean species, males may guard the opening to the nest of a female they hope to mate with, and are often not the father of the brood within the nest; this is the first bee species in which male nest-guarding has been classified as a form of biparental care, but males guarding nests and mating with females has been documented in other species (e.g., Macrotera portalis ).

A few species of Ceratina are exceptional among bees in that they are parthenogenetic, reproducing without males.

Species

 * Ceratina acantha Provancher, 1895
 * Ceratina accusator Cockerell, 1919
 * Ceratina acuta Friese, 1896
 * Ceratina aeneiceps Friese, 1917
 * Ceratina aenescens Friese, 1917
 * Ceratina aereola Vachal, 1903
 * Ceratina aetana Shiokawa, 2006
 * Ceratina ahngeri Kokujev, 1905
 * Ceratina albopicta Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina albosticta Cockerell, 1931
 * Ceratina alexandrae Baker, 2002
 * Ceratina aliceae Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina allodapoides Strand, 1912
 * Ceratina aloes Cockerell, 1932
 * Ceratina angulata Roig-Alsina, 2013
 * Ceratina apacheorum Daly, 1973
 * Ceratina apatela Engel, 2018
 * Ceratina arabiae (Daly, 1983)
 * Ceratina arizonensis Cockerell, 1898
 * Ceratina armata Smith, 1854
 * Ceratina aspera Schrottky, 1902
 * Ceratina asunciana Strand, 1910
 * Ceratina asuncionis Strand, 1910
 * Ceratina atopura Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina atra Friese, 1917
 * Ceratina atrata H. S. Smith, 1907
 * Ceratina augochloroides Ducke, 1911
 * Ceratina auriviridis H. S. Smith, 1907
 * Ceratina australensis (Perkins, 1912)
 * Ceratina azteca Cresson, 1878
 * Ceratina azurea Benoist, 1955
 * Ceratina ballotae Eardley & Daly, 2007
 * Ceratina barbarae Eardley & Daly, 2007
 * Ceratina basaltica Flórez-Gómez et al., 2022
 * Ceratina beata Cameron, 1897
 * Ceratina belizensis Baker, 1907
 * Ceratina belliata Shiokawa, 2008
 * Ceratina benguetensis Cockerell, 1916
 * Ceratina bhawani Bingham, 1908
 * Ceratina bicolorata Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina bicuneata Cockerell, 1918
 * Ceratina bifida Friese, 1900
 * Ceratina biguttulata (Moure, 1941)
 * Ceratina bilobata Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina binghami Cockerell, 1908
 * Ceratina bispinosa Handlirsch, 1889
 * Ceratina boninensis Yasumatsu, 1955
 * Ceratina braunsi Eardley & Daly, 2007
 * Ceratina braunsiana Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina breviceps Michener, 1954
 * Ceratina bryanti Cockerell, 1919
 * Ceratina buscki Cockerell, 1919
 * Ceratina calcarata Robertson, 1900
 * Ceratina callosa (Fabricius, 1794)
 * Ceratina canaliculata Roig-Alsina, 2016
 * Ceratina canarensis Cockerell, 1919
 * Ceratina capitosa Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina carinifrons Baker, 2002
 * Ceratina catamarcensis Schrottky, 1907
 * Ceratina caveata Roig-Alsina, 2013
 * Ceratina cavifrons Shiokawa, 2006
 * Ceratina chalcea Spinola, 1841
 * Ceratina chalcites Germar, 1839
 * Ceratina chalybea Chevrier, 1872
 * Ceratina chiangmaiensis Warrit et al., 2012
 * Ceratina chinensis (Wu, 1963)
 * Ceratina chloris (Fabricius, 1804)
 * Ceratina christellae Terzo, 1998
 * Ceratina chrysocephala Cockerell, 1912
 * Ceratina chrysomalla Gerstäcker, 1869
 * Ceratina citrinifrons Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina citriphila Cockerell, 1935
 * Ceratina cladura Cockerell, 1919
 * Ceratina claripennis Friese, 1917
 * Ceratina cobaltina Cresson, 1878
 * Ceratina cockerelli H. S. Smith, 1907
 * Ceratina cognata Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina collusor Cockerell, 1919
 * Ceratina combinata Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina compacta Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina congoensis Meunier, 1890
 * Ceratina coptica Baker, 2002
 * Ceratina corinna Nurse, 1904
 * Ceratina correntina Schrottky, 1907
 * Ceratina cosmiocephala Cameron, 1908
 * Ceratina crassiceps Friese, 1925
 * Ceratina crewi Cockerell, 1903
 * Ceratina cucurbitina (Rossi, 1792)
 * Ceratina cupreiventris Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina cuprifrons Strand, 1910
 * Ceratina currani Schwarz, 1934
 * Ceratina cyanea (Kirby, 1802)
 * Ceratina cyanicollis Schrottky, 1902
 * Ceratina cyaniventris Cresson, 1865
 * Ceratina cyanura Cockerell, 1918
 * Ceratina cypriaca Mavromoustakis, 1954
 * Ceratina dallatorreana Friese, 1896
 * Ceratina dalyi Terzo, 1998
 * Ceratina daressalamica Strand, 1912
 * Ceratina darwini Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina demotica Baker, 2002
 * Ceratina denesi Terzo, 1998
 * Ceratina dentipes Friese, 1914
 * Ceratina dentiventris Gerstäcker, 1869
 * Ceratina diligens Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina diloloensis Cockerell, 1932
 * Ceratina dimidiata Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina diodonta H. S. Smith, 1907
 * Ceratina duckei Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina dupla Say, 1837
 * Ceratina egeria Nurse, 1904
 * Ceratina electron Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina elisabethae Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina emeiensis Wu, 2000
 * Ceratina ericia Vachal, 1903
 * Ceratina esakii Yasumatsu & Hirashima, 1969
 * Ceratina excavata Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina eximia Smith, 1862
 * Ceratina fastigiata Fox, 1896
 * Ceratina ferghanica Morawitz, 1875
 * Ceratina fimbriata Roig-Alsina, 2013
 * Ceratina fioreseana Oliveira, 2020
 * Ceratina flavipes Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina flavolateralis Cockerell, 1916
 * Ceratina flavopicta Smith, 1858
 * Ceratina floridana Mitchell, 1962
 * Ceratina foveifera Strand, 1912
 * Ceratina fuliginosa Cockerell, 1916
 * Ceratina fulvitarsis Friese, 1925
 * Ceratina fulvofasciata Ducke, 1908
 * Ceratina fumipennis Friese, 1917
 * Ceratina glossata Michener, 1954
 * Ceratina gnoma Eardley & Daly, 2007
 * Ceratina gomphrenae Schrottky, 1909
 * Ceratina gossypii Schrottky, 1907
 * Ceratina grandis Shiokawa, 2015
 * Ceratina gravidula Gerstäcker, 1869
 * Ceratina guarnacciana Genaro, 1998
 * Ceratina guineae Strand, 1912
 * Ceratina gurkhana Shiokawa, 2008
 * Ceratina hakkarica Kocourek, 1998
 * Ceratina haladai Terzo & Rasmont, 2004
 * Ceratina hexae Eardley & Daly, 2007
 * Ceratina hieratica Baker, 2002
 * Ceratina hieroglyphica Smith, 1854
 * Ceratina himalayana Shiokawa, 2008
 * Ceratina huberi Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina humilior Cockerell, 1916
 * Ceratina hurdi Daly, 1973
 * Ceratina ignara Cresson, 1878
 * Ceratina immaculata Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina incertula Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina incognita Bingham, 1898
 * Ceratina indica (Hirashima, 1969)
 * Ceratina indigovirens Flórez-Gómez et al., 2022
 * Ceratina inermis Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina interrupta Alfken, 1926
 * Ceratina itzarum Cockerell, 1931
 * Ceratina iwatai Yasumatsu, 1936
 * Ceratina jacobsoni van der Vecht, 1952
 * Ceratina japonica Cockerell, 1911
 * Ceratina jejuensis S. Lee, 2005
 * Ceratina kankauensis Strand, 1913
 * Ceratina kopili Flórez-Gómez et al., 2022
 * Ceratina kosemponis Strand, 1913
 * Ceratina kraussi Michener, 1954
 * Ceratina labrosa Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina laevifrons Morawitz, 1895
 * Ceratina laeviuscula Wu, 1963
 * Ceratina langenburgiae Strand, 1912
 * Ceratina langi Cockerell, 1934
 * Ceratina latisetis Roig-Alsina, 2013
 * Ceratina lativentris Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina lehmanni Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina lepida Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina liberica Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina lieftincki van der Vecht, 1952
 * Ceratina liliputana Cockerell, 1932
 * Ceratina lineola Vachal, 1903
 * Ceratina litoraria van der Vecht, 1952
 * Ceratina loa Strand, 1912
 * Ceratina loewi Gerstäcker, 1869
 * Ceratina longiceps Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina loquata Nurse, 1902
 * Ceratina lucidula Smith, 1854
 * Ceratina lucifera Cockerell, 1934
 * Ceratina ludwigsi Strand, 1914
 * Ceratina lunata Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina maai Shiokawa & Hirashima, 1982
 * Ceratina macondiana Flórez-Gómez & Griswold, 2020
 * Ceratina maculifrons Smith, 1854
 * Ceratina madecassa Friese, 1900
 * Ceratina maghrebensis Daly, 1983
 * Ceratina malindiae (Daly, 1988)
 * Ceratina mandibularis Friese, 1896
 * Ceratina manni Cockerell, 1912
 * Ceratina marginata Baker, 1907
 * Ceratina mariannensis Yasumatsu, 1939
 * Ceratina mauritanica Lepeletier, 1841
 * Ceratina megastigmata Yasumatsu & Hirashima, 1969
 * Ceratina melanochroa (Moure, 1941)
 * Ceratina melanoptera Cockerell, 1924
 * Ceratina mendozina Roig-Alsina, 2016
 * Ceratina metaria Cockerell, 1920
 * Ceratina mexicana Cresson, 1878
 * Ceratina micheneri Daly, 1973
 * Ceratina mikmaqi Rehan & Sheffield, 2011
 * Ceratina minima Friese, 1909
 * Ceratina minuta Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina mocsaryi Friese, 1896
 * Ceratina moderata Cameron, 1897
 * Ceratina moerenhouti Vachal, 1903
 * Ceratina monstrata Sung & Shiokawa, 2012
 * Ceratina montana Holmberg, 1886
 * Ceratina morawitzi Sickmann, 1894
 * Ceratina moricei Friese, 1899
 * Ceratina morrensis Strand, 1910
 * Ceratina muelleri Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina muscatella Nurse, 1902
 * Ceratina namibensis Eardley & Daly, 2007
 * Ceratina nanula Cockerell, 1897
 * Ceratina nasalis Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina nasiinsignita Strand, 1912
 * Ceratina nativitatis Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina nautlana Cockerell, 1897
 * Ceratina neocallosa Daly, 1983
 * Ceratina neomexicana Cockerell, 1901
 * Ceratina nigra Handlirsch, 1889
 * Ceratina nigriceps Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina nigrita Ashmead, 1900
 * Ceratina nigritula Michener, 1954
 * Ceratina nigroaenea Gerstäcker, 1869
 * Ceratina nigrolabiata Friese, 1896
 * Ceratina nigrolateralis Cockerell, 1916
 * Ceratina nilotica Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina nitidella Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina nitidifrons Roig-Alsina, 2016
 * Ceratina nyassensis Strand, 1912
 * Ceratina obtusicauda Cockerell, 1919
 * Ceratina okinawana Matsumura & Uchida, 1926
 * Ceratina opaca Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina opipara Shiokawa, 2015
 * Ceratina oxalidis Schrottky, 1907
 * Ceratina pacifica H. S. Smith, 1907
 * Ceratina pacis Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina palauensis Yasumatsu, 1939
 * Ceratina papuana van der Vecht, 1952
 * Ceratina paraguayensis Schrottky, 1907
 * Ceratina parvula Smith, 1854
 * Ceratina paulyi (Daly, 1988)
 * Ceratina pembana Cockerell, 1935
 * Ceratina penicillata Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina penicilligera Strand, 1912
 * Ceratina perforatrix Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina perpolita Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina personata Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina picta Smith, 1854
 * Ceratina pictifrons Smith, 1861
 * Ceratina piracicabana Schrottky, 1911
 * Ceratina placida Smith, 1862
 * Ceratina polita Friese, 1902
 * Ceratina politifrons Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina politula Shiokawa, 2006
 * Ceratina popovi Wu, 1963
 * Ceratina propinqua Cameron, 1897
 * Ceratina psaenythia Engel, 2018
 * Ceratina pubescens Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina pulchripes Shiokawa, 2002
 * Ceratina punctaticeps Van der Vecht, 1953
 * Ceratina punctigena Cockerell, 1916
 * Ceratina punctiventris Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina punctulata Spinola, 1841
 * Ceratina pusilla Roig-Alsina, 2016
 * Ceratina quadripunctata Wu, 2000
 * Ceratina quinquemaculata Cockerell, 1912
 * Ceratina raquelitae Flórez-Gómez & Ayala, 2022
 * Ceratina rasmonti Terzo, 1998
 * Ceratina rectangulifera Schwarz & Michener, 1954
 * Ceratina regalis Cockerell, 1912
 * Ceratina rehanae Flórez-Gómez & Ayala, 2022
 * Ceratina rhodura Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina richardsoniae Schrottky, 1909
 * Ceratina ridleyi Cockerell, 1910
 * Ceratina roseoviridis Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina rossi (Daly, 1988)
 * Ceratina rothschildiana Vachal, 1909
 * Ceratina rotundiceps Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina rufigastra Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina rufipes Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina rugifrons Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina rugosissima Cockerell, 1932
 * Ceratina rukaina Sung & Shiokawa, 2012
 * Ceratina rupestris Holmberg, 1884
 * Ceratina ruwenzorica Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina sakagamii Terzo, 1998
 * Ceratina sakagamina Shiokawa, 2015
 * Ceratina samburuensis Cockerell, 1910
 * Ceratina sapphira Flórez-Gómez & Ayala, 2022
 * Ceratina satoi Yasumatsu, 1936
 * Ceratina saundersi Daly, 1983
 * Ceratina sauteri Strand, 1913
 * Ceratina schwarzi Kocourek, 1998
 * Ceratina schwarziana Terzo, 1998
 * Ceratina sclerops Schrottky, 1907
 * Ceratina sculpturata Smith, 1858
 * Ceratina seikii Sung & Shiokawa, 2012
 * Ceratina senegalensis Strand, 1912
 * Ceratina sequoiae Michener, 1936
 * Ceratina sericea Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina shinnersi Daly, 1973
 * Ceratina silvicola Shiokawa, 2015
 * Ceratina simillima Smith, 1854
 * Ceratina smaragdula (Fabricius, 1787)
 * Ceratina spectata Shiokawa, 2015
 * Ceratina speculifrons Cockerell, 1920
 * Ceratina speculina Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina spilota Cockerell, 1932
 * Ceratina spinipes Shiokawa, 2009
 * Ceratina splendida Shiokawa, 2008
 * Ceratina stilbonota Moure, 1941
 * Ceratina strenua Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina stuckenbergi Eardley & Daly, 2007
 * Ceratina subcarinata Roig-Alsina, 2013
 * Ceratina subquadrata Smith, 1854
 * Ceratina subscintilla Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina sutepensis Cockerell, 1929
 * Ceratina tabescens Cockerell, 1912
 * Ceratina taborae Strand, 1912
 * Ceratina takasagona Shiokawa & Hirashima, 1982
 * Ceratina takeshii Shiokawa, 2008
 * Ceratina tanganyicensis Strand, 1911
 * Ceratina tanoi Shiokawa, 2010
 * Ceratina tantilla (Moure, 1941)
 * Ceratina tarsata Morawitz, 1872
 * Ceratina tawangensisGhosh, Jobiraj, Subramanian, 2023
 * Ceratina tejonensis Cresson, 1864
 * Ceratina tenkeana Cockerell, 1937
 * Ceratina tepetlana Flórez-Gómez et al., 2022
 * Ceratina teunisseni Terzo & Rasmont, 1997
 * Ceratina texana Daly, 1973
 * Ceratina tibialis Morawitz, 1895
 * Ceratina timberlakei Daly, 1973
 * Ceratina titusi Cockerell, 1903
 * Ceratina triangulifera Cockerell, 1914
 * Ceratina tricolor Michener, 1954
 * Ceratina trimaculata Friese, 1917
 * Ceratina tropica Crawford, 1910
 * Ceratina truncata Friese, 1905
 * Ceratina tucumana Roig-Alsina, 2013
 * Ceratina turgida (Moure, 1941)
 * Ceratina umbricosta Roig-Alsina, 2013
 * Ceratina unicolor Friese, 1911
 * Ceratina unimaculata Smith, 1879
 * Ceratina velthuisi Terzo & Rasmont, 2001
 * Ceratina verhoeffi Terzo & Rasmont, 1997
 * Ceratina vernoniae Schrottky, 1920
 * Ceratina virescens Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina viridicincta Cockerell, 1931
 * Ceratina viridifrons Cockerell, 1934
 * Ceratina viridis Guérin-Méneville, 1844
 * Ceratina volitans Schrottky, 1907
 * Ceratina wagneri Friese, 1910
 * Ceratina waini (Shiokawa & Sakagami, 1969)
 * Ceratina warnckei Terzo, 1998
 * Ceratina whiteheadi Eardley & Daly, 2007
 * Ceratina xanthocera (Moure, 1941)
 * Ceratina xanthostoma Cockerell, 1912
 * Ceratina yamanei Sung & Shiokawa, 2012
 * Ceratina yasumatsui Hirashima, 1971
 * Ceratina yonagunensis Shiokawa, 2011
 * Ceratina yucatanica Cockerell, 1931
 * Ceratina zandeni Terzo, 1998
 * Ceratina zeteki Cockerell, 1934
 * Ceratina zwakhalsi Terzo & Rasmont, 1997


 * † Ceratina disrupta (Cockerell 1906)