We evaluated the utility of three single-copy nuclear genes (EF-1alpha, wingless, and LW opsin) for reconstructing the phylogeny of the genera, tribes, and subfamilies of halictid bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Halictid bees are one of the five basal bee families and should therefore give us insights into the utility of single copy nuclear genes for other bee families. Halictid bees are also a relatively ancient group, presumed to have arisen in the mid- to late Cretaceous. In combination these genes recover even the deepest branches in the phylogeny with high bootstrap support and posterior probability. EF-1alpha alone recovered most higher-level nodes, but neither opsin nor wingless alone was able to do so. There was no detectable incongruence among the three data sets. Our results indicate that single copy nuclear genes have the capacity to resolve deep phylogenetic questions in bees.
Keywords: bees, phylogeny
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