Author: Panzer, 1806

Type species: Tiphia brevicornis Panzer, 1798, monobasic.
Synonyms: Rhineta Illiger, 1807; Melittoxena Morawitz, 1873; Biastoides Schenk, 1874; 
Clade: Anthophila
Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Nomadinae
Tribe: Biastini
Distinctive traits
  • Black or black and red
  • No scopa (cleptoparasitic bees)
  • 2 submarginal cells of equivalent size
  • Pointed marginal cell
  • long mouthparts
  • protruding clypeus
  • bidentate mandible.
Pictures of distinctive traits
Morphologically close genera, and how to distinguish them:
  • Biastes - Ammobates & Pasites
Biastes species have a short and wide scapus, less than twice as long as wide. Females have a clear propodeal triangle and a bidentate mandible. Males have a labrum wider than long.
Ammobates and Pasites species have a normal scapus, longer. Females have a propodeal triangle faint and a unidentate mandible. Males have a labrum longer than wide.
  • Biastes - Ammobatoides & Schmiedeknechtia
Biastes species have a truncated marginal cell, basal part submarginal cell 1 is about as long as that of submarginal cell 2. Males have non-converging eyes.
Ammobatoides & Schmiedeknechtia species have an oval or pointed marginal cell, basal part of submarginal cell 1 is around twice as long as that of submarginal cell 2. Males have strongly converging eyes.
  • Biastes - Clavipanurgus, Flavipanurgus, Panurginus, Panurgus & Simpanurgus
Biastes species have a somewhat protruding clypeus and a long-tongue morphology (segments 1 and 2 of maxillary palpi are strongly elongated).
Clavipanurgus, Flavipanurgus, Panurginus, Panurgus & Simpanurgus species have a flat clypeus and a short-tongue morphology of mouthparts (short maxillary palpi).
General comments on Biastes species identification
Species identification criteria include the presence of spots of white hairs on the mesopleuron (B. emarginatus), the abdomen(B. truncatus) or neither (B. brevicornis).
Sorry, but the species identification tool is not yet available for Biastes. 
Please check the reference(s) at the bottom of the page for traditional keys.
List of the 3 Biastes species found in Europe (IUCN 2014 + Rasmont et al 2017):
Biastes (Biastes) brevicornis (Panzer 1798)
Biastes (Biastes) emarginatus (Schenck 1853)
Biastes (Biastes) truncatus (Nylander 1848)
References with identification keys for some of the species:
  • Osytshnjuk, A.Z., Panfilov, D.V. & Ponomareva A.A. (1978) Superfamily Apoidea. In: Tobias, V.I. (Ed). Key to the insects of European part of the USSR. Vol. 3. Hymenoptera. Pt. 1. Nauka, Leningrad, 279-519. (In Russian)
  • Amiet F., Herrmann M., Müller A. & Neumeyer R., 2007. Apidae 5. Ammobates, Ammobatoides, Anthophora, Biastes, Ceratina, Dasypoda, Epeoloides, Epeolus, Eucera, Macropis, Melecta, Melitta, Nomada, Pasites, Tetralonia, Thyreus, Xylocopa. Fauna Helvetica 20. Centre suisse de cartographie de la faune (CSCF), Neuchâtel, 356 pp.
Online resources:
Atlas hymenoptera (Belgium)
WestPalBees (West Palearctic)
Page contributors:
  • Adrien Perrard (Dec. 2019)

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References used to write this page:
  • Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World, 2nd Edition. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
  • Michez D., Rasmont P., Terzo, M., Vereecken, N. 2019. Abeilles d'Europes. Hymenoptères d'Europes, Volume 1. N.A.P. Editions.
  • Nieto, A., Roberts, S. P., Kemp, J., Rasmont, P., Kuhlmann, M., García Criado, M., ... & Michez, D. 2014. European red list of bees. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union, 98. (IUCN 2014)
  •  Rasmont, P., Devalez, Jelle, Pauly, A., Michez, D. & Radchenko, V.G. 2017. Addition to the checklist of IUCN European wild bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Annales de la Société entomologique de France 53: 17-32.