User:Dlwalker



= Perdita Bees = Perdita is a large genus of bees native to North America, particularly diverse in the desert regions of the United States and Mexico. There are over 600 recognized species and subspecies of Perdita, plus many more as yet unnamed. Perdita are usually quite small (2.0 mm to 10.0 mm) and often brightly colored with metallic reflections and/or yellow or white markings. The genus was extensively treated by P.H. Timberlake who, in addition to T.D.A. Cockerell, described most of the known species. Most species are extreme specialists (oligoleges) with respect to pollen and will only collect pollen from a few closely related species or genera of plants Behavior of Females Communal Bees Female Perdita portalis are ground nesting communal bees that normally live in the desert and grassland Western states such as : Arizona, New Mexico and Northern Mexico. They are communal bees which adult females may share a single nest.. In some cases, these may be anywhere from 2 to 29 adult females bees in a nest. The nests are commonly used from year to year and may become as large as to accommodate up to over 200 overwintering prepupae. On the other hand, some of these communal bees build new nest each year. These communal bees were observed by constructing artificial fellow-ground nest that allowed the details of cell provisioning of male and female nestmate interactions within the nest. This process is also described on detail as the cell construction, pollen collection, pollen ball formation and oviposition. However,this process did not provide evidence of cooperation among female nestmates or reproductive division of labor,nor was there any indication of intraspecific cleptoparasitism. The behavior of female perdita portalis is compared with that of females in other species of bees in other regions of the United States. Male Perdita Males of Perdita texana, a communal ground nesting univoltine bee, that shows striking in head size and shape. The large male have disproportionately undersized thoraces. In addition, when the body size gets bigger, the head shape increases more strongly allometrically. Male bees vary in where they spend the night. Some enter the nests of females during mid-to late afternoon, whereas other enter closed Opuntia flowers, where they stay until the next day. The males leaves the nest early in the morning and join other males and females on flowers as they mate especially during the period of female foraging (from 1100-1400 hours [CST]). The head sizes of the males of Perdita texana was critical. Larger headed males were more successful in male to male combat on flower and has a higher reproductive success on flowers. The larger headed bees had more favor than smaller headed bees.