Move over, honeybees: Aussie native bees steal the show with unique social and foraging behaviours

Australian native bees have evolved complex social structures and foraging behaviours that help biologists answer longstanding questions, such as the origins of social behaviour, and the drivers of increased biodiversity.

In European honeybees, the queen governs the hive with her sterile female workers. Meanwhile, the males are little more than freeloaders, or hangers-on (sorry boys).

But most Australian bees are different. Some are solitary. Others live in cooperative, egalitarian societies where individuals share and jointly defend a nest. There is no clear division into queen and worker castes...