Bee Phylogenomics
Current understanding
Phylogenomic methods based on ultraconserved elements (UCEs) are increasingly being applied to large datasets of Apoidea genomes, enabling high-resolution inference of bee relationships at the family level and below. A recent analysis incorporating 119 Apoidea genomes — including the first representative of the mining-bee subfamily Panurginae — resolves most nodes with 100% ultrafast bootstrap support, indicating that UCE-based datasets can produce well-supported topologies across this diverse lineage. One key placement emerging from this framework is that Perdita meconis (family Andrenidae, subfamily Panurginae) is resolved as sister to Andrena within Andrenidae, a result made possible by the sequencing of the first Perdita reference genome. Schweizer et al. 2024, Finding 1
Supporting evidence
The placement of Perdita meconis as sister to Andrena is supported by a UCE phylogenomic analysis of 119 Apoidea genomes, with the relevant node receiving near-universal bootstrap support. As the paper states: “Perdita meconis is resolved as the sister group to Andrena (family Andrenidae, subfamily Andreninae).” This finding contributes the first Panurginae genome to any Apoidea phylogenetic dataset, filling a meaningful gap in the taxon sampling of bee genomic studies. Schweizer et al. 2024, Finding 1
Contradictions / open disagreements
The robustness of the inferred Andrenidae topology warrants caution. Taxon sampling in the 119-genome dataset is heavily biased toward social bees in Apidae and Halictidae; only a single Andrenidae genus (Andrena) is represented alongside Perdita, and the family Stenotritidae is entirely absent. The sister-group relationship between Perdita and Andrena — and Andrenidae internal relationships more broadly — therefore remains incompletely tested. Expanded taxon sampling across Andrenidae and inclusion of Stenotritidae will be necessary to assess whether current placements are robust to denser sampling.
Tealc’s citation-neighborhood suggestions
Broad UCE-based phylogenies of Apoidea (e.g., Bossert et al. 2019, Insect Systematics and Diversity) and morphological or molecular reanalyses of Andrenidae subfamily relationships would be natural companions to cite here. Studies examining the completeness and bias of available bee genome databases would also help contextualize the taxon-sampling concerns noted above.