2. The Bee Family

Ancestral bees appeared about 125 million years ago and so far, world-wide, about 20,000 species have been named, although this could climb to 30,000 once they have all been identified. This gives bees more species than birds and mammals combined! With so many bee species out there, bees have been arranged into families and then further divided into genus, sub-genus, and species.

Before I proceed, please note that I am a naturalist, a fourth-generation beekeeper (although I don’t keep bees anymore) and one of those “beeple” who just love bees. I recommend you do your own research to fact check and learn more about this subject. With that said, let’s continue.

Bees belong to the superfamily Apoidea which is a major group within the Hymenoptera (which includes wasps and bees). There are seven biological bee families which are divided into:

• the long-tongued bees: Adidae and Megachilidae

• the short-tongued bees: Mellitidae, Andrenidae, Halictidae, Stenotritidae and Colletidae.

New Zealand has bees from two out of the seven families: the Leioproctus and Hylaeus genus under the Colletidae family and the Lasioglossum is under the Halictidae family. We have a total of 28 native bee species, 27 of which are endemic. (One is indigenous - meaning it is somehow found its own way here and in this case, from Australia).

So, to understand how bees are categorised, for example, (a) The species Leioproctus huakiwi belongs to the family Colletidae, the genus is Leioproctus, the subgenus is Leioproctus, and the species is L. huakiwi. (b) The species Leioproctus fulvescens belongs to the family Colletidae, the genus is Leioproctus, the subgenus is Nesocolletes, and the species is L. fulvescens.

• LEIOPROCTUS: The eighteen native species of Leioproctus is the largest and most common genus of native bees in New Zealand and are from the family Colletidae. These are also known as the plaster bee because the female bee line their underground nests with a cellophane-like secretion produced by a gland in their abdomen to protect developing larvae from moisture and fungi.
  
  These bees are hairy and look similar to honeybees but smaller (5-12mm long). All are black except for the South Island species Leoproctus fulvescens, which is covered with dense orange-yellow hair. Unlike honeybees, these are solitary bees and dig nest holes in the ground. Some species prefer fine-grained soil whereas others prefer coastal sand.
  

  • Family Colletidae, Genus Leioproctus, Subgenus Leioproctus, Species: L. boltoni, L. huakiwi, L. hukarere, L. imitatus, L. kanapuu, L. keehua, L. metallicus, L. pango, L. purpureus, L. vestitus, L. waipounamu.

  • Subgenus Nesocolletes, Species: L. fulvescens, L. hudsoni, L. maritimus, L. monticola, L. nunui, L. paahaumaa, L. pekanui.
    

• HYLAEUS: The six native species of Hylaeus bees are long and slender (7-9mm), almost hairless and are black with small yellow markings on the face and thorax, so are also referred to as masked bees. They make nests in branches or old beetle holes in logs. They are thought to be more primitive as they have not evolved to carry pollen on the back legs and carry pollen in the stomach instead.
  

  • Family Colletidae, Genus Hylaeus, Subgenus Prosopisteron, Species: H. agilis, H. capitosus, H. kermadecensis, H. matamoko, H. murihiku, H. relegatus.
    

• LASIOGLOSSUM: The four native species of Lasioglossum bees are the smallest (4-8mm) and are also known as sweat bees because they are attracted to and feed on human sweat for the salt and minerals. They are black or greenish, moderately hairy and next in the soil found along fencelines, stopbanks and ditch sides above water level.

  • Family Halictidae, Genus Lasioglossum, Subgenus Austrevylaeus, Species: L. mataroa, L. maunga, L. sordidum.

  • Subgenus Chilalictus, Species: L. cognatum (indigenous - shared with Australia)
    

New Zealand also has 13 introduced species of bee, including the best known Apis mellifera or honey bee and three species from the well-loved Bombus, bumblebee. If you take nothing else from this post, remember that we only have 28 native bee species in this country, which is tiny compared to the 20,000 species out there.

The world of bees is changing all of the time but this is the most recent account of our native bees I could find based on a 2024 article in The Wētā, by Brad G Howlett from Plant & Food Research, New Zealand.

Research Notes - The Australian Native Bee Book, Tim Heard. A Guide to Native Bees of Australia, Terry Houston. http://weta.ento.org.nz