Bees

Let the beautiful buzz of a summer day wash away the winter blues. There are nearly 20,000 known species of bees in seven to nine families. The smallest bee is Trigona minima, a stingless bee whose workers are about 2.1 mm (5/64") long. The largest bee in the world is Megachile pluto, a leafcutter bee whose females can attain a length of 39 mm (1.5"). Bees play an important role in pollinating flowering plants, and are the major type of pollinator in ecosystems that contain these plants. Many assassin bugs and crab spiders hide in flowers to capture unwary bees. Bumblebees are one of the more important wild pollinators, but have declined significantly in recent decades.