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''Euglossa hyacinthina'' (long-tongued bee) is a species of the orchid bee tribe Euglossini in the family Apidae. With a tongue that can get up to as long as 4 cm, this orchid bee species is found in Central America.〔 Living in a neotropical climate, ''E.'' ''hyacinthina'' has adapted to hot and humid weather. The bee has darkly shaded, translucent wings and a metallic, glossy blue skeleton. "Medium sized, large body stature, long-tongued, and fast," ''E. hyacinthina'' is characterized by its eusociality and unique solitary life-style. Additionally, this species has no worker or queen bees and females dominate in an atypical social hierarchy. The many individual nests of ''E. hyacinthina'' reveal the sociality of the bees, and the origin of this can be discovered by studying these nests. ''E. hyacinthina'' may also be part of mimicry complexes within ''Euglossa''. == Taxonomy and phylogeny == ''Euglossa'' is a genus of a larger tribe known as euglossine bees. Euglossini (orchid bees) is a tribe of Apinae and are mostly characterized as solitary as they display little social behavior.〔 Named after their 4 cm long tongues, euglossines are commonly known as long-tongued bees. The tribe Euglossini is a diverse and very widespread neotropical taxon that comprises "5 genera and nearly 200 species," one of the genera being the ''Euglossa''. It is the largest genus in the tribe with over 129 identified species including ''E. hyacinthina''.〔 Among the distinct species of euglossine bees, the genus ''Euglossa'' is known for its bright, metallic skeleton. In neotropical forests, euglossines make up to 25% of the total bee population. The Neotropical ''Euglossa'' bees are close relatives of Apini (honey bees) and Bombini (bumblebees). Researchers have identified from four genes (16S, 28S, cytochrome ''b'', LW ''Rh'') that Bombini and Meliponini (stingless bees) form a clade, but there is uncertainty on whether Euglossini is a sister group to either Apini or Bombini/Meliponini.〔 There are five genera of Euglossini and five hypotheses have been formulated on the relationships of these genera (''Aglae, Exaerete, Euglossa, Eufriesea, and Eulaema''). No definite conclusion has been reached because of the incongruency at the root. The most strongly supported hypothesis is that ''Aglae'' is the base group with ''Eufriesea'' and ''Eulaema'' as the sister group to an ''Exaerete'' and ''Euglossa'' clade or to either of the latter genera''.''〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Euglossa hyacinthina」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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