ctenoplectrid

plural ctenoplectrids

1. biologyAny bee of the tribe Ctenoplectrini (especially when the latter is, as formerly by some, regarded as the family Ctenoplectridae).

   Obligate parasitism of other bees has arisen in halictids, megachilids, anthophorids, apids, and perhaps a few colletids and ctenoplectrids.

   1989, David W. Roubik, Ecology and Natural History of Tropical Bees, published 1992, page 249

   2 more examples

   Larval characters should be reanalyzed in light of recent information presented by Michener and Greenberg (1980) that indicates ctenoplectrids are the sister group of the long-tongued bee families (Figure 2).

   1989, Ronald J. McGinley, A Catalog and Review of Immature Apoidea (Hymenoptera), page 5

   Melittid bees have “hair felt” patches on their legs that take up floral oils by capillarity, while the unusual ctenoplectrids have abdominal oil-mopping hairs.

   2011, Pat Willmer, Pollination and Floral Ecology, page 222