Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Xylocopinae
Tribe: Ceratinini
Genus: Ceratina Latreille, 1802
Subgenus: Chloroceratina Cockerell, 1918
Common name: small carpenter bees
Ceratina (Chloroceratina) have blackish integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
with slightly metallic blue or green coloration and yellow markings on their head, thorax, and abdomen. Their body length ranges from 6–8 mm (Vecht 1952Vecht 1952:
Vecht, J. van der. 1952. A preliminary revision of the Oriental species of the genus Ceratina (Hymenoptera, Apidae). 2001. Verhandel., Leiden, 16: lndash;85.; Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).
(modified from Vecht 1952Vecht 1952:
Vecht, J. van der. 1952. A preliminary revision of the Oriental species of the genus Ceratina (Hymenoptera, Apidae). 2001. Verhandel., Leiden, 16: lndash;85.; Hirashima 1971aHirashima 1971a:
Hirashima, Y. 1971. Subgeneric classification of the genus Ceratina Latreille of Asia and West Pacific, with comments on the remaining subgenera of the world (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture Kyushu University 16 (4): 349ndash;375.)
Ceratina (Chloroceratina) may be confused with other small Ceratina subgenera; however, they can be separated by the shape of their propodeumpropodeum:
the last segment of the thorax
, the largely impunctateimpunctate:
marked with punctures or pits
thorax and, in the males, the concave S6S6:
the plates on the underside of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, or S8
and the tridentatetridentate:
having three teeth
apexapex:
end of any structure
of T7T7:
the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, or T7
(Hirashima 1971aHirashima 1971a:
Hirashima, Y. 1971. Subgeneric classification of the genus Ceratina Latreille of Asia and West Pacific, with comments on the remaining subgenera of the world (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture Kyushu University 16 (4): 349ndash;375.). It is also the only Ceratina subgenus with a long third flagellar segment (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).
Floral associations are unknown.
There are no records about the nesting behavior of Ceratina (Chloroceratina); in general, however, Ceratina nest in pithy stems or sticks (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).
Ceratina (Chloroceratina) contains two species, C. benguetensis and C. cyanura, but there are doubts whether they are two separate, distinct species (Vecht 1952Vecht 1952:
Vecht, J. van der. 1952. A preliminary revision of the Oriental species of the genus Ceratina (Hymenoptera, Apidae). 2001. Verhandel., Leiden, 16: lndash;85.; Hirashima 1971aHirashima 1971a:
Hirashima, Y. 1971. Subgeneric classification of the genus Ceratina Latreille of Asia and West Pacific, with comments on the remaining subgenera of the world (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture Kyushu University 16 (4): 349ndash;375.; Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).
There are no known invasives.
Ceratina (Chloroceratina) are known only from northern Luzon, Philippine Islands (Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).
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Hirashima, Y. 1971. Subgeneric classification of the genus Ceratina Latreille of Asia and West Pacific, with comments on the remaining subgenera of the world (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture Kyushu University 16 (4): 349–375.
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.
Vecht, J. van der. 1952. A preliminary revision of the Oriental species of the genus Ceratina (Hymenoptera, Apidae). 2001. Verhandel., Leiden 16: l–85.