Against the grain: Discovery of wood‐nesting reveals hidden substrate flexibility in a major bee lineage
Zestin W. W. Soh, John S. Ascher · 2026
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Description
Bees of one huge family were thought to nest only in the ground, until a wood-nesting find cracked that rule. Zestin W W Soh and John S Ascher report the discovery in a 2026 paper. The family Halictidae holds the second most bee species worldwide. Wood nesting was known in only a few of its branches, all in the Americas or one other group. The subfamily at issue spans Africa, Asia, and Australia with about six hundred twenty species.
Those species had a strict ground-nesting reputation in the standard references. The new find shows hidden flexibility in where they can raise young. Nest choice shapes survival, predator risk, and where bees can live. Tropical nesting habits remain poorly logged, the authors note.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Zestin W. W. Soh, John S. Ascher |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 12 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |