Dasypodainae Melittinae Meganomiinae Melittidae is a small bee family, with over 200 described species[1] in three subfamilies.

[4] Early molecular work suggested that the family Melittidae was sister to all other bees, and also that it was paraphyletic.

Later studies suggested that the family could still be monophyletic[6] and a 2013 investigation including a greater number of melittid bees further supports this.

[2] Recent research has shown that Melittids have a lower extinction rate compared to other hymenopterans, yet this family is considered species-poor.

[7] Danforth et al. suggests that this is because they are oligoleges, whereas other bees express polylecty (diverse host-plant preferences) allowing them to increase their diversification rate compared to melittids.