Austroplebeia

The species of Austroplebeia are difficult to separate reliably by body size or morphology except for A. cincta which can be distinguished readily by its colouration and pilosity. There are also few differences in their nest structures. This has hindered taxonomic studies to date and no workable key exists for the Austroplebeia species.

All species are small, black and robust (length: 3.0–4.9 mm) and differ from other stingless bee species that co-occur in the same region (i.e. Tetragonula, Platytrigona, Papuatrigona) by the presence of cream or yellow markings in their head and thorax. Most species construct their nests largely from wax, unlike most stingless bees, they use propolis sparingly. They construct a fine, lacy curtain of resin droplets over their nest entrance at night in order to protect against ants and other predators.

In Australia, people keep these bees in logs or wooden hives made of boxes. They show potential as pollinators of both field and greenhouse crops

Species

In alphabetical order:

• Austroplebeia australis (Friese, 1898)
• Austroplebeia cassiae (Cockerell, 1910)
• Austroplebeia cincta (Mocsáry, 1898)
• Austroplebeia essingtoni (Cockerell, 1905)
• Austroplebeia fujianica (Engel, 2021)
• Austroplebeia magna (Dollin, Dollin, & Rasmussen, 2015)