Like other stingless bees, Schwarziana are eusocial, with large colonies primarily composed of workers and one queen.

Unusually for stingless bees, colonies are formed in underground chambers rather than in tree cavities.

[2] Workers are approximately 6.5mm long[1][3] The type species for this genus, S. quadripunctata, was first described by the French entomologist Amédéé Louis Michel le Peletier in 1836.

[4] However, some still categorize Schwarziana as a subgenus under the closely related genus Plebeia.

Recent morphological studies support Schwarziana as a genus, while Plebeia appears to be paraphyletic.