Bee Anatomy
Bees have an exoskeleton divided into three main sections—the head, thorax, and abdomen—each with many functions. The sections collectively work together to enable a bee to see, smell, fly, collect nesting materials, excavate nests, mate, and more.
Lateral View
Augochloropsis (metallic green sweat bee)
Head
Bombus
(bumble bee)
Eyes, Antennae, Mandibles, and Glossa
The head contains the sensory apparatus. A pair of large compound eyes allows bees to see color and objects; three ocelli (simple eyes) determine light intensity. In addition to their use for tactile purposes, the antennae have sensors along their length that enable a bee to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as pheromones or flower fragrances. Males have thirteen antennal segments including the scape and pedicel; their antennae are longer than those of females with twelve segments.
The front of the head contains the mouthparts including the glossa (tongue) and mandibles. The glossa is used for feeding on or collecting nectar. For females, the mandibles perform several functions such as excavating nesting cavities, moving excavated soil in a ground nest, and cutting nesting materials such as leaves or petals. Males use their mandibles to cling to vegetation overnight while resting, and some species use their mandibles to clasp onto females during mating.
Dieumonia
(large sweat bee)
Augochloropsis
(metallic green sweat bee)
Thorax
The middle of the three sections of a bee is the thorax. The technical term for this section is mesosoma that includes the propodeum (the first abdominal segment fused to the rear of the mesosoma). This section is the center of motion. All six legs and both pairs of wings, hooked together, are attached to the thorax and enable a bee to move across the ground or fly. Most of the thorax is taken up by the flight muscles. In some native bee genera, these muscles are vibrated at a high frequency (but without wing motion) when bees sonicate (buzz-pollinate) flowers. Bumble bees also vibrate (shiver) these muscles to elevate their body temperature in preparation for flights in cool weather.
Ceratina
(small carpenter bee)
Dorsal View
scutum
scutellum
metanotum
propodeum
Augochloropsis (metallic green sweat bee)
Triepeolus (cuckoo bee)
Abdomen
The abdomen is the rear section of a bee. The technical and correct term for this posterior section is the metasoma, separating it from the mesosoma that includes the propodeum. In females, it is divided into six segments and in males, seven. Females in the family Megachilidae (leafcutter bee) have rows of scopae (pollen-carrying hairs) on the bottom of each abdominal segment. Bumble bees (Bombus) and honey bees (Apis) have glands between the sternites (segments on the bottom of their abdomen) that produce wax used to construct nectar pots (bumble bees) or nest divisions or combs (honey bees).
A female bee's abdomen also contains the spermatheca, the organ for storing sperm after mating, and the crop, a stomach where nectar is stored by females and later regurgitated after returning to their nest from a foraging trip. The very end of the abdomen contains the Dufour's gland, a gland that produces an oily or waxy secretion that ground-nesting bees use as a waterproofing material in their brood cells or, in some cases, as a direct addition to the provisions provided for the larvae. The majority of female ground-nesting bees have a pygidial plate, a small triangular plate on the last (sixth) segment of the abdomen used as a tamping tool to shape the walls of the nest tunnels and the brood cells. Also in the end of the abdomen are the genitalia and in females the sting, a modified ovipositor used for venom injection.
Megachile (leafcutter bee)
scopae
Andrena (mining bee)
pygidial
plate
Ventral View
Wings
In addition to facilitating flight, wings are used in social nests to fan the air to cool the nest or, in the case of honey bee hives, to evaporate water from nectar to produce honey. The different venation patterns on bees' wings are used for identification purposes. For example, Colletes have an S-shaped second recurrent vein, and bees in the family Halictidae have a strongly arched basal vein. The color or shape of the tegula (the plate that covers the forewings where they attach to the thorax) is also used for identification.
tegula
Forewing
Hind Wing
Gender
There are several anatomical differences between male and female bees. Nest-building female bees with the exception of Hylaeus have pollen-collecting structures on their hind legs or abdomen. In contrast, all male bees lack pollen-collecting structures. Male bees have seven external abdominal tergites (segments); females have six. Male bees have one more antennal segment (thirteen) than females (twelve), i.e., the scape + the pedicel + ten (F) or eleven (M) flagellomeres.
Pollen-collecting structures
1
2
3
4
5
6
Six Tergites
Female
No pollen-collecting structures
1
2
3
4
5
6
Seven
Tergites
7
Male
At the genus or species level, males and females can closely resemble each other in appearance and size or be very different in appearance and size. Males generally appear longer and more slender than females of the same species, have longer antennae, sometimes noticeably so, and usually have bold facial markings (colorful markings or dense clusters of hairs). Female bees have a sting and males do not. Primitive wasps have a combined egg laying and venom-injecting ovipositor. Aculeate wasps, the ancestors of bees have a sting used for injecting venom into their insect or spider prey resulting in paralysis of the prey, and a separate opening at the end of the abdomen for egg laying. Similarly, bees lay eggs from an opening at the end of the abdomen and have a sting used for defending the nest against natural enemies. See the tips and photographs below to help determine if a bee is a male or female.
Explore Bee Families
Citations and Further Reading
Droege, S., et al. (2024). The Very Handy Bee Manual: 2.0. How to Catch and Identify Bees and Manage a Collection.
Portman, Z. M., Gardner, J., Lane, I. G., Gerjets, N., Petersen, J. D., Ascher, J. S., ... & Cariveau, D. P. (2023). A checklist of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Minnesota. Zootaxa, 5304(1), 1-95.
Wilson, J. S., & Messinger Carril, O. J. (2016). The bees in your backyard: a guide to North America's bees. Princeton University Press.
Page Photography Credits
Page Illustration Credits
Heather Holm
Joel Gardner CC BY-ND-NC 1.0 (Melittidae)
Heather Holm (wings)
Rebekah Nelson © 2007 (head, lateral, dorsal, ventral views)