The alkali bee and allies (Halictidae, Nomiinae): Phylogeny, natural history, and biogeography

Acunomia melanderi, the North American Alkali Bee, is the sole agriculturally managed, ground nesting bee species in the World, yet its evolutionary history remains poorly studied. To this date, no reliable phylogeny of the North American Nomia exists, limiting our knowledge for answering key questions such as: (1) Is the North American 'Nomia' truly related to the tropical, Indian type species? (2) What are the closest relatives of the North American Nomia in the Old World? (3) How old is Nomia? (4) Are Nomia melanderi and its sibling Nomia howardi good, separate species or do they merely represent regional color variation of a single widespread species? These questions and more are going to be answered in this presentation, along with a hypothesis on their historical biogeography.