Brood care in halictine bees

Abstract

Four species of the halictine bee genus Evylaeus keep their brood cells open during most or part of the development of the larvae. In the colonial summer phase, house bees care for the young and keep brood cells clean from feces and exuviae. Progressive feeding of nector is present at least in Evylaeus malachurus, whose fully fed larvae are, on an average, 60 percent heavier than the egg-and-pollen stage. Interactions between the two generations of social Halictinae are of general occurrence, and their intensity corresponds to the level of social behavior attained.