Editing Bee (section)

===Coevolution===
[[File:Amegilla on long tube of Acanthus ilicifolius flower.jpg|thumb|Long-tongued bees and long-tubed flowers [[Coevolution|coevolved]], like this ''[[Amegilla ]]'' species (Apidae) on ''[[Acanthus ilicifolius]]''.]]
{{further|Coevolution}}

The earliest animal-pollinated flowers were shallow, cup-shaped blooms [[pollination|pollinated]] by insects such as [[beetle]]s, so the [[Pollination syndrome|syndrome of insect pollination]] was well established before the first appearance of bees. The novelty is that bees are specialized as pollination agents, with behavioral and physical modifications that specifically enhance pollination, and are the most efficient pollinating insects. In a process of [[coevolution]], flowers developed floral rewards<ref name="Armbruster ch. 3 Evol. Plant-pollinator relationships">{{cite book |author=Armbruster, W. Scott |author-link=Evolution and ecological implications of 'specialized' pollinator rewards |editor1-last=Patiny |editor1-first=Sébastien |title=Evolution of Plant-Pollinator Relationships |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=45–67 |chapter=3}}</ref> such as [[nectar]] and longer tubes, and bees developed longer tongues to extract the nectar.<ref name=Michener1974/> Bees also developed structures known as [[scopa (biology)|scopal hairs]] and [[pollen baskets]] to collect and carry pollen. The location and type differ among and between groups of bees. Most species have scopal hairs on their hind legs or on the underside of their abdomens. Some species in the family Apidae have [[pollen baskets]] on their hind legs, while very few lack these and instead collect pollen in their crops.<ref name=Michener2000>{{cite book |title=The Bees of the World |date=2000 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=0-8018--6133-0 |pages=19–25 |last1=Michener |first1=Charles D.}}</ref> The appearance of these structures drove the [[adaptive radiation]] of the [[Flowering plant|angiosperms]], and, in turn, bees themselves.<ref name=Buchmann2012>{{cite book |author1=Buchmann, Stephen L. |author2=Nabhan, Gary Paul |title=The Forgotten Pollinators |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YWTZs5fSqb8C&pg=PA41 |year=2012 |publisher=Island Press |isbn=978-1-59726-908-7 |pages=41–42 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527145146/https://books.google.com/books?id=YWTZs5fSqb8C&pg=PA41 |archive-date=27 May 2016}}</ref> Bees [[Coevolution|coevolved]] not only with flowers but it is believed that some species coevolved with mites. Some provide tufts of hairs called [[acarinaria]] that appear to provide lodgings for mites; in return, it is believed that mites eat fungi that attack pollen, so the relationship in this case may be [[mutualism (biology)|mutualistic]].<ref name=":5">{{cite journal |last1=Biani |first1=Natalia B. |last2=Mueller |first2=Ulrich G.|last3=Wcislo |first3=William T. |title=Cleaner Mites: Sanitary Mutualism in the Miniature Ecosystem of Neotropical Bee Nests |journal=The American Naturalist |date=June 2009 |volume=173 |issue=6 |pages=841–847 |doi=10.1086/598497 |pmid=19371167|bibcode=2009ANat..173..841B |url=https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/2152/31261/1/CleanerMites.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328155201/https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/2152/31261/1/CleanerMites.pdf |archive-date=2018-03-28 |url-status=live |hdl=2152/31261 |s2cid=4845087 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Pavel B 2007">{{cite journal|last1=Klimov |first1=Pavel B. |last2=OConnor |first2=Barry M. |last3=Knowles |first3=L. Lacey |title=Museum Specimens And Phylogenies Elucidate Ecology's Role in Coevolutionary Associations Between Mites And Their Bee Hosts |journal=Evolution |date=June 2007 |volume=61 |issue=6 |pages=1368–1379 |doi=10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00119.x |pmid=17542846|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74970/1/j.1558-5646.2007.00119.x.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504194936/https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74970/1/j.1558-5646.2007.00119.x.pdf |archive-date=2019-05-04 |url-status=live |hdl=2027.42/74970 |s2cid=32318137 |doi-access=free }}</ref>