Department of Integrative Biology

The first fossil orchid bees are described from amber deposits in the Dominican Republic. These bees are assigned to the new genus and species, Paleoeuglossa melissiflora (Euglossinae: Apidae) and are thought to represent a progenitor to the Eulnema-Euglossa clade. The fossil bees are characterized by a genal projection, scutellar tuft and a protruding supra-clypeal ridge. The discovery of two female specimens together in the same piece of amber suggest that these female orchid bees also used resin for nest construction some 20-40 million years ago.