The small carpenter bees comprise the single genus Ceratina of the tribe Ceratinini (Xylocopinae: Apidae). They are represented by approximately 200 described species with a global distribution spanning all habitable continents and ecoregions. Ceratina are stem-nesting bees with a broad range of social behavior from solitary and subsocial to semisocial and eusocial colony organization. As in other xylocopine bees, the adult life span of Ceratina is unusually long, a life history trait that strongly influences their social behavior. Their phylogeny, biogeography, and nesting biology are well understood. Ceratina are foundational in our understanding of maternal care, mutual tolerance, and division of labor in facultatively social insect societies.
Nesting Biology
Ceratina nest in dead broken stems of pithy plants (Fig. 1). Females typically disperse from the natal nest to establish new nests solitarily, although sometimes females will reuse their nest and can form cooperative colonies...
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Rehan, S.M. (2020). Small Carpenter Bees (Ceratina). In: Starr, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Social Insects. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_106-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_106-1
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