Bees of Zihuatanejo

SWEAT BEES

• Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

• Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

• Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

• Insects (Class Insecta)

• Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

• Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies (Order Hymenoptera)

• Narrow-waisted Wasps, Ants, and Bees (Suborder Apocrita)

• Ants, Bees, and Stinging Wasps (Infraorder Aculeata)

• Bees and Apoid Wasps (Superfamily Apoidea)

• Bees (Epifamily Anthophila)

• ​Sweat Bees (Family Halictidae)

​

​Family Halictidae are generally small to medium-sized bees, often metallic green, blue, bronze, or black in coloration, although many species are more subdued in appearance. Their common name derives from the tendency of some species to land on humans and collect salts from perspiration. Most halictids are solitary or communal ground nesters, excavating burrows in soil, while others exhibit varying degrees of social behavior, including primitively eusocial colonies with queens and workers.