The New World oil‐collecting bees Centris and Epicharis (Hymenoptera, Apidae): molecular phylogeny and biogeographic history

Abstract

We present a first comprehensive time‐calibrated phylogeny for two Neotropical genera of bees, Centris and Epicharis, whose females collect floral oil together with pollen for larval provisioning, and that traditionally have been grouped in the tribe Centridini. Our analyses rely on a matrix of 167 taxa and 4228 aligned nucleotides for the subfamily Apinae, with denser sample of Centris and Epicharis. Centris and Epicharis are strongly supported monophyletic groups, but Centridini is paraphyletic in relation to the corbiculate bees. The inner phylogenetic relationships of Epicharis agree with the current taxonomic classification. In Centris, three main clades were recovered, namely the Centris, Trachina and Melacentris groups. Inner relationships in Centris suggest the reinstatement of some subgenera and proposition of new ones. Early diversification of Centris and Epicharis took place at the tropical regions of South America. Epicharis and the Melacentris group in Centris mostly diversified in that region, expanding over Central America and tropical North America only recently in the last 3 My. The groups Trachina and Centris present a complex biogeographic history, with expansions to the Nearctic region, the Antilles, and temperate regions of South America in the late Oligocene and Miocene.