Amegilla

Amegilla are generally medium-sized to very large bees, about 10-12mm of robust form.{{Cite book |last=Houston |first=Terry |title=A Guide to Native Bees of Australia |date=August 2018 |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |isbn=9781486304066 |pages=216–223}} The body and legs are hairy, and the tongue and proboscis are long. All Amegilla species burrow to make nests and they are commonly referred to as "digger bees". Several species have blue metallic bands on the abdomen and are referred to as "blue-banded bees" Bands may differ with the sex, with males having more bands than females.{{Cite web |title=Factsheet - Amegilla bees |url=https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/eafrinet/bee_genera/key/african_bee_genera/Media/Html_eafrica/Amegilla_bees.htm |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=keys.lucidcentral.org}}

The genus occurs all around the world, but very few live above 45° North.{{cite web |title=Atlas Hymenoptera |url=http://www.atlashymenoptera.net/page.asp?id=259 |access-date=22 May 2020 |website=www.atlashymenoptera.net}} Amegilla are associated with arid and subarid biomes, matorrals, steppes, sub-deserts and deserts.{{Cite book |last=Denis Michez |first=Pierre Rasmont, Michaël Terzo [et autres] |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1140375362 |title=Abeilles d'Europe |date=2019 |publisher=NAP éditions |isbn=978-2-913688-33-9 |volume=1 |location=Verrières-le-Buisson |oclc=1140375362}} They also commonly occur in farmlands, especially those that border their preferred habitats.

They are very fast, agile flyers, and because of this, some taxa are close to impossible to catch. This in combination with the fact that some species are known from only a few specimens means that their abundance and distribution is believed to be underestimated.

Several Amegilla species, specifically Amegilla nigritar and Amegilla zonata, pollinate the orchid species Phalaenopsis pulcherrima.Pramanik, D., Dorst, N., Meesters, N. et al. Evolution and development of three highly specialized floral structures of bee-pollinated Phalaenopsis species. EvoDevo 11, 16 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13227-020-00160-zHu, X., Lan, S., Song, X., Yang, F., Zhang, Z., Peng, D., & Ren, M. (2021). [https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/13/9/446/pdf "Genetic divergence between two sympatric ecotypes of Phalaenopsis pulcherrima on Hainan island."] Diversity, 13(9), 446. Females are adept at buzz-pollination, and some species have proven or potential value as pollinators of greenhouse tomatoes.{{Cite journal |last1=Hogendoorn |first1=K |last2=Gross |first2=CL |last3=Sedgley |first3=M |last4=Keller |first4=MA |date=2006 |title=Increased Tomato Yield Through Pollination by Native Australian Amegilla chlorocyanea (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae) |url=https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/99/3/828/2218483 |journal=Journal of Economic Entomology |volume=99 |issue=3 |pages=828–833 |doi=10.1093/jee/99.3.828 |pmid=16813318 |via=Oxford Academic |doi-access=free}}

At a glance, they may be confused with honeybees. However, they do not produce harvestable honey or live in colonies. Amegilla bees also carry their pollen between hairs on the hind legs, whereas in honeybees the hind leg has a smooth, spoon-shaped area where pollen is collected.

• Amegilla albiceps (Rayment, 1951)
• Amegilla asserta (Cockerell, 1926)
• Amegilla bombiformis (Smith, 1854)
• Amegilla calceifera (Cockerell, 1911)
• Amegilla calens (Lepeletier, 1841)
• Amegilla canifrons (Smith, 1854)
• Amegilla cingulata (Fabricius, 1775)
• Amegilla cingulifera (Cockerell, 1910)
• Amegilla comberi (Cockerell, 1911)
• Amegilla confusa (Smith, 1854)
• Amegilla dawsoni (Rayment, 1951)
• Amegilla fallax (Smith, 1879)
• Amegilla mucorea (Klug, 1845)
• Amegilla niveocincta (Smith, 1854)
• Amegilla puttalama (Strand, 1913)
• Amegilla quadrifasciata (Devillers, 1789)
• Amegilla subcoerulea (Lepeletier, 1841)
• Amegilla subinsularis (Strand, 1910)
• Amegilla violacea (Lepeletier, 1841)
• Amegilla zonata (Linnaeus, 1758)

• Josephine Cardale, an Amegilla researcher
• List of Amegilla species

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• Pierre Rasmont, Bees of Europe (2019)
• {{Wikispecies-inline|Amegilla}}
• ITIS: [https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=634005 Genus Amegilla]

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Category:Apinae

Category:Bee genera