About the Dilemma Orchid Bee
Euglossa dilemma, the green orchid bee or dilemma orchid bee, is a species of solitary euglossine bee native to a broad area of Central America, and recently introduced to Florida in the United States. It was first detected in Broward County, Florida in 2003, and initially identified as Euglossa viridissima, but further study revealed that E. viridissima as previously defined consisted of two cryptic species, and the one present in Florida was new to science.
Euglossa viridissima is a species of green orchid bee from Central America in which the males have two teeth on their mandibles.α The very similar bee that was first observed in Florida in 2003 was found to have three such teeth. Sequencing data from a mitochondrial gene was unable to separate E. viridissima and E. dilemma, indicating they are closely related and form a clade within Euglossa. However, microsatellite allele frequencies varied between the two groups. Males of these bees store aromatic compounds extracted from various environmental sources in pouches on their hind legs. Certain characteristic compounds present as main ingredients in these perfumes in E. dilemma were found to be absent in E. viridissima... Wikipedia →