The family Andrenidae is a large cosmopolitan bee family, with most of the diversity in temperate and/or arid areas, including some truly enormous genera (e.g., Andrena with over 1300 species, and Perdita with nearly 800). One of the subfamilies, Oxaeinae, are so different in appearance that they were typically accorded family status, but careful phylogenetic analysis reveals them to be an offshoot within the Andrenidae, very close to the Andreninae.

They are typically small to moderate-sized bees, which often have scopae on the basal segments of the leg in addition to the tibia, and are commonly oligolectic (especially within the subfamily Panurginae. They can be separated from other bee families by the presence of two subantennal sutures on the face, a primitive trait shared with the sphecoid wasps. Many groups also have foveae on the head near the upper margin of the eyes, another feature seen in sphecoids, and also shared by some Colletidae.

The subfamily Oxaeinae is rather different in appearance from the other subfamilies, being large, fast-flying bees with large eyes, resembling some of the larger Colletidae.

Reference

• C. D. Michener (2000) The Bees of the World, Johns Hopkins University Press.

Bees