xylocopine

English

Wikispecies

Adjective

xylocopine (not comparable)

1. (bees) In the subfamily Xylocopinae of carpenter bees.
   • 2009 February 6, Elizabeth Pennisi, “EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY: Agreeing to Disagree”, in Science‎^[1], volume 323, number 5915, →DOI, pages 706–708:

     Wilson thinks today's eusocial species likely had ancestors similar to a Japanese stem-nesting xylocopine bee, Ceratina flavipes. Most of the time females make do on their own, but every once in a while, they pair up and divide the labor, setting the stage for a "group" to outdo individuals and for the tendency to form groups to be favored.

Related terms

• xylocopid