Bees are often thought of as yellow and black striped insects that live in hives and produce honey. However, Australia’s abundant native bees are incredibly diverse in their appearance and habits. Some are yellow and black but others have blue stripes, are iridescent green or wasp-like. Some are social but most are solitary. Some do build nests with wax but others use silk or plant material, burrow in soil or use holes in wood and even gumnuts! A Guide to Native Bees of Australia provides a detailed introduction to the estimated 2000 species of Australian bees. Illustrated with stunning photographs, it describes the form and function of bees, their life-cycle stages, nest architecture, sociality and relationships with plants. It also contains systematic accounts of the five families and 58 genera of Australian bees. Photomicrographs of morphological characters and identification keys allow identification of bees to genus level. Natural history enthusiasts, professional and amateur entomologists and beekeepers will find this an essential guide.

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Working on the hypothesis that an important function of the lamellate antennae of adult male beetles belonging to the genus Rhipicera is to detect scent associated with female conspecifics, and using field observations, anatomical models derived from X-ray microcomputed tomography, and scanning electron microscopy, we have investigated the behavioral, morphological, and morphometric factors that may influence molecule capture by these antennae. We found that male beetles fly upwind in a zigzag manner, or face upwind when perching, behavior consistent with an animal that is tracking scent. Furthermore, the ultrastructure of the male and female antennae, like their gross morphology, is sexually dimorphic, with male antennae possessing many more of a particular type of receptor-the sensillum placodeum-than their female counterparts (approximately 30,000 vs. 100 per antenna, respectively). Based on this disparity, we assume that the sensilla placodea on the male antennae are responsible for detecting scent associated with female Rhipicera beetles. Molecule capture by male antennae in their alert, fanned states is likely to be favoured by: (a) male beetles adopting prominent, upright positions on high points when searching for scent; (b) the partitioning of antennae into many small segments; (c) antennal morphometry (height, width, outline area, total surface area, leakiness, and narrow channels); (d) the location of the sensilla placodea where they are most likely to encounter odorant molecules; and (e) well dispersed sensilla placodea. The molecule-capturing ability of male Rhipicera antennae may be similar to that of the pectinate antennae of certain male moths. Anat Rec, 298:1519Rec, 298: -1534Rec, 298: , 2015. V C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Eur.vglossa (Euhesma) tubulijeru sp. n. is remarkable for its enormously enlarged maxillary palpi, which cohere to form a slender tube up to 80% as long as the head and body. The tube functions as adrinkingstraw. enabling the bees to extract nectar from the essentially bird-adapted flowers of Calothamnus.Gross enlargement ofeither the labial or maxillary palpi (but without the formation of a tube) occurs in several groups of Colletidae (Paracolletini, Euryglossinae and Hylaeinae), and must have arisen independently at least 5 times. Most of these bees are associated with flowers of Eremophila. A tube formed from the maxillary palpi is also noted in some Eremophila-visiting sawflies (Pergidae).It is postulated that in the Colletidae natural selection has favoured elongation of the palpi (and not the tongue as in higher bees) as an adaptation to flowers with deep-seated nectaries, because the short tongue plays an important r6le in nest construction. IntroductionThe proboscis of bees, comprised of the maxillae and labium, serves to extract nectar from flowers and conduct it to the mouth. At the apex of the labium is the tongue (glossa) and, according to its relative length, bees may be classed as shorttongued or long-tongued. Short tongues are considered primitive and characterise the lower bees (Colletidae, Halictidae etc.), while long tongues are considered to be derived and characterise the higher bees such as Anthophoridae and Apidae (Michener 1944). By virtue of their long glossae, higher bees are able to feed from deeply recessed nectaries inaccessible to the majority of short-tongued bees.Primary contact with nectar is ordinarily made by the tongue (short or long), which draws it by muscular action into the proboscis. The palpi usually play no physical r d e in feeding, except that in long-tongued bees the labial pair and the elongated galeae form a sheath around the base of the tongue. The labial and maxillary palpi are primarily tactile sensory appendages. However, in this paper, a new shorttongued bee is described in which the maxillary palpi are extraordinarily developed to form a new organ-a slender straw-like tube-that makes primary contact with the nectar and conducts it into the proboscis. Other cases of gross enlargement of palpi in colletid bees (and some sawflies) are discussed and compared, with a view to understanding how and why such modifications have occurred. This is the first acco.unt of the use of palpi in nectar-feeding.Most of the species discussed below are undescribed. Certain of them (in the euryglossine subgenus Euhesma Michener and the hylaeine subgenus Pseudhylaeus Cockerell) need revision, but 1 species should be named here, both because of its singularity and to facilitate discussion. Representatives of the other taxa are lodged in the Western Australian Museum and may be recognised by the registration numbers quoted.