are used for nest construction, cell provisions, and transportation of materials. The Euglossini, or orchid bees, do not have advanced social bees in contrast to the other corbiculate Apinae like the honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees that form colonies with a queen and workers. Orchid bees are considered to be key species in lowland forests because they are pollinators of specific tropical plants. It is in fact the females that perform cross-pollination. They have also been targets of conservation, and the diversity of the euglossine bees as a whole is being affected by habitat fragmentation. E. meriana themselves are closely related to their sister bee, E. bombiformis. Distribution Eulaema meriana is native to Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil, or most commonly the New World tropics. It is found in forests in the Amazon basin but is replaced in the Atlantic coastal forest by Eulaema niveofasciata and Eulaema flavescens. In general, members of the Euglossini tribe are found mostly in the tropical areas of the Americas, even around Mexico or Argentina. The genus Eulaema itself ranges from central Mexico to northern Argentina. Nests General nest architecture Nest entrances have a mud wall or ceiling at the entry point, with a very narrow entrance hole (about 15 mm in diameter). The nests contain a pedicel made out of mud, and a number of urn-shaped brood cells fused together. The pedicel increases in size as the overall size of the nest increases as well. The pedicel is built first and its anterior surface is what forms the back of the first brood cell, which is made of a thick layer of mud and has an average volume around 4.8mL. Cell structures have been observed to be similar across nests. Each cell is fused to the wall of the previous cell, and new cells are often observed to be attached along the same plane. The cells are then covered with a thin layer of feces and lined with resin that is extended past the opening to form a collar. After oviposition by the female, the resin collar is pushed inward by the female and then covered with a layer of mud. In larger nests, once a layer of cells is complete, the surface is covered with mud to make a new floor for the next layer of cells to be built. Nest initiation and construction After mating, a