• Source: Eufriesea

Eufriesea is a genus of euglossine bees. Like all orchid bees, they are restricted to the Neotropics.
All species range from entirely to at least partially metallic (the face and/or tegulae), though much of the body in some species may be brown/black in color and hairy.




Distribution


Eufriesea have been found from Texas to central Argentina.




E. purpurata



At least one species in this genus, Eufriesea purpurata from Brazil, has been shown to deliberately collect large quantities of the insecticide DDT without any apparent adverse effects. Individual bees were observed to collect as much as 2 mg, which is equivalent to several percent of the bee's weight. Bees were observed to return to the walls of houses that had been recently sprayed with DDT and to collect the dried insecticide. The males of orchid bees are known to collect aromatic fragrances from certain kinds of orchids, and it is thought that they use these in territorial display and courtship, probably as precursors of their own pheromones. Some orchid bees have also been found to collect fragrances from rotten wood.




Name


The genus is named after entomologist Heinrich Friese.




Species






References






Further reading


Whitten, W. Mark; Young, Allen M. & Stern, David L. (1993): Nonfloral sources of chemicals that attract male euglossine bees (Apidae: Euglossini). Journal of Chemical Ecology 19(12): 1573–1561. doi:10.1007/BF00980599
Cameron, Sydney A. (2004): Phylogeny and Biology of Neotropical Orchid Bees (Euglossini). Annual Review of Entomology 49: 377–404. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.49.072103.115855
Roubik, D. W. (1989): Ecology and natural history of tropical bees. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Vetter, Walter & Roberts, Donald (2007): Revisiting the organohalogens associated with 1979-samples of Brazilian bees (Eufriesea purpurata). Science of the Total Environment 377: 371–377. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.02.009




External links


David Roubik (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute): Diagnostic photographs of several Eufriesea species:
E. mussitans · E. ornata · E. pulchra · E. purpurata · E. surinamensis

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Eufriesea purpurata
• Eufriesea
• Euglossini
• Eufriesea flaviventris
• Eufriesea surinamensis
• Euglossa
• Exaerete frontalis
• Meloetyphlus fuscatus
• Eulaema
• Stanhopea insignis