Universidade Federal do Parana Curitiba, Parana, Brazil
The superfamily Apoidea includes bees and a series of predatory wasps collectively known as apoid wasps. Estimates based on the molecular clock indicate that the Apoidea crown-group arose between the Late Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous. Apoidea diversified mainly during the Cretaceous, and most of the living families were already established by the end of the Early Cretaceous and the beginning of the Late Cretaceous. In this overview, we compile the main studies that we have developed and present the advances in our knowledge about the fossils of the main Apoidea lineages from the Cretaceous. Based on completed studies, we discuss the following main issues: 1) the early evolution of Apoidea based on fossil lineages; 2) the fossil sister-group of bees and an overview of the apoids from Myanmar amber (Late Cretaceous); and 3) the first crabronid wasp from Crato formation (Early Cretaceous) and its implications for the early evolution of bees. Subsequently, we present unpublished results from ongoing studies, of which we highlight: 4) use of micro-CT-scan techniques for the study of fossil apoids from the Crato formation; and 5) the relationships between Gondwana and Cretaceous Eurasian amber using psenid wasps as models. Finally, we indicate perspectives for the study of Cretaceous-old fossil apoids.
