Oxaeidae

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Oxaeidae (order Hymenoptera, suborder Apocrita) Small, neotropical family of fast-flying, ground-nesting bees, a few of which are found also in the southern USA. Oxaeids were once considered a subfamily of the Andrenidae, which they resemble in having subantennal plates and pollen scopa that extend from the coxa to the basitarsus of the hind leg. They differ from andrenids in that the fore wing lacks a stigma, and has an elongate marginal cell. The hind femora (femur) of the females are enlarged and form a plate. The family includes the genera Mesoxaea, Notoxaea, Oxaea, and Protoxaea.