The evolutionary history of bees in time and space.

Bees are the most significant pollinators of flowering plants. This partnership began ca. 120 million years ago, but the uncertainty of how and when bees spread across the planet has greatly obscured investigations of this key mutualism.

New genus and subgenus of South American long-horned bees (Apidae, Eucerini).

As part of a broader treatment of Eucerini systematics, a new genus and a new subgenus are described to accommodate previously described species. Savannychapis gen. n.

Evaluating the Impact of Anatomical Partitioning on Summary Topologies Obtained with Bayesian Phylogenetic Analyses of Morphological Data.

Morphological data are a fundamental source of evidence to reconstruct the Tree of Life, and Bayesian phylogenetic methods are increasingly being used for this task. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses require the use of evolutionary models, which have been intensively studied in the past few years, with significant improvements to our knowledge. Notwithstanding, a systematic evaluation of the performance of partitioned models for morphological data has never been performed.

Phylogenetic relationships and the evolution of host preferences in the largest clade of brood parasitic bees (Apidae: Nomadinae).

Brood parasites (also known as cleptoparasites) represent a substantial fraction of global bee diversity. Rather than constructing their own nests, these species instead invade those of host bees to lay their eggs. Larvae then hatch and consume the food provisions intended for the host's offspring.

Partitioned Gene-Tree Analyses and Gene-Based Topology Testing Help Resolve Incongruence in a Phylogenomic Study of Host-Specialist Bees (Apidae: Eucerinae).

Incongruence among phylogenetic results has become a common occurrence in analyses of genome-scale data sets. Incongruence originates from uncertainty in underlying evolutionary processes (e.g.

Synopsis of the bee genus Holmberg 1884 (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, with the description of a new species and a key to all Brazilian species.

Thygater Holmberg 1884, a Neotropical bee genus distributed from Argentina to Mexico, was last revised almost 50 years ago. Considering the species recognized then, and a few others described subsequently, 30 species are currently included in the genus. The Brazilian state of Minas Gerais is a large, environmentally heterogeneous territory, including areas in the phytogeographic domains of the Atlantic Tropical Rain Forest, the semiarid Caatinga and the highly seasonal Cerrado.

Morphology of male reproductive system of two solitary bee species (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

Bees can form all levels of social organization, from solitary to advanced eusocial societies. Although 80% of the species exist as solitary species, most researches emphasize social species. This study focuses on the description of the male reproductive system of the solitary beesThygater analis (Lepeletier) and Melitoma segmentaria (Fabricius) and searches for traits that support behavioral and phylogenetic studies.