The term cuckoo bee is used for a variety of different bee lineages which have evolved the cleptoparasitic habit of laying their eggs in the nests of other bees, reminiscent of the behavior of cuckoo birds. The name is technically best applied to the apid subfamily Nomadinae. Females of cuckoo bees can be easily recognized in almost all cases, as they lack pollen collecting structures (the scopa) and do not construct their own nests. They often have reduced body hair, abnormally thick and/or heavily sculptured exoskeleton, and saber-like mandibles, though this is not universally true, and other less visible changes are common, as well. Families Andrenidae Apidae Colletidae Halictidae Megachilidae Melittidae Stenotritidae Bee collecting pollen Bees are flying insects, closely related to wasps and ants. ... Kleptoparasitism (literally, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding where one animal takes prey from another that has caught, killed, or otherwise prepared it. ... Genera See text. ... Subfamilies Apinae - Honeybees Bombinae - Bumblebees Euglossinae - Orchid bees Meliponinae - Stingless bees Nomadinae Xylocopinae - Carpenter bees The Apidae are a large family of bees, comprising the common honeybees, stingless bees (which are also cultured for honey), carpenter bees, and bumblebees. ... Genera Many The subfamily Nomadinae is the largest and most diverse group of cleptoparasitic cuckoo bees; they occur worldwide, and utilize many different types of bees as hosts. ... Abdominal scopa of a Megachilid bee The term scopa is used to refer to any of a number of different modifications on the body of a bee that form a pollen-carrying apparatus. ... An exoskeleton, in contrast to an endoskeleton, is an external anatomical feature that supports and protects an animals body. ... Insect mandibles are a pair of appendages near the insect’s mouth. ...

They typically enter the nests of pollen-collecting species, and lay their eggs in cells provisioned by the host bee. When the cuckoo bee larva hatches it consumes the host larva's pollen ball, and, if the female cleptoparasite has not already done so, kills and eats the host larva. In a few cases where the hosts are social species (e.g., the subgenus Psithyrus, which are parasitic bumble bees that infiltrate nests of species in the subgenus Bombus), the cleptoparasite remains in the host nest and lays many eggs, sometimes even killing the host queen and replacing her - such species are often called social parasites, though a few of them are also what are referred to as "brood parasites." SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), prairie hollyhock (Sidalcea malviflora), oriental lily (Lilium auratum), evening primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... Species see text A bumblebee in flight The bumblebee is a flying insect of the genus Bombus in the family Apidae. ... A Common Cuckoo being raised by a Reed Warbler. ...

Many cuckoo bees are closely related to, and resemble, their hosts in appearance and size. This common pattern gave rise to the ecological principle known as "Emery's Rule". Others parasitize bees in different families, like Townsendiella, a nomadine apid, one species of which is a cleptoparasite of the melittid genus Hesperapis, while the other species in the same genus attack halictid bees. In 1909, the entomologist C. Emery noted that social parasites among insects (e. ... Genera Many The subfamily Nomadinae is the largest and most diverse group of cleptoparasitic cuckoo bees; they occur worldwide, and utilize many different types of bees as hosts. ... Subfamilies Apinae - Honeybees Bombinae - Bumblebees Euglossinae - Orchid bees Meliponinae - Stingless bees Nomadinae Xylocopinae - Carpenter bees The Apidae are a large family of bees, comprising the common honeybees, stingless bees (which are also cultured for honey), carpenter bees, and bumblebees. ... Subfamilies Dasypodainae Meganomiinae Melittinae The family Melittidae is a small bee family, with some 110 species in 14 genera, mostly restricted to Africa and the northern temperate zone. ... Subfamilies Halictinae Nomiinae Nomioidinae Rophitinae Halictidae is a cosmopolitan family of the order Hymenoptera consisting of small to midsize bees which are usually dark-colored and often metallic in appearance. ...

The number of times cleptoparasitic behavior has independently evolved within the bees is remarkable; C. D. Michener (2000) lists 16 lineages in which parasitism of social species has evolved (mostly in the family Apidae), and 31 lineages parasitizing solitary hosts (mostly in Apidae, Megachilidae, and Halictidae), collectively representing several thousand species, and therefore a very large proportion of overall bee diversity. There are no cuckoo bees in the families Andrenidae, Melittidae, or Stenotritidae, and possibly the Colletidae (there are only unconfirmed suspicions that one group of Hawaiian hylaeine species may be parasitic). The American entomologist Charles Duncan Michener was born in Pasadena, CA, September 22, 1918. ... Subfamilies Apinae - Honeybees Bombinae - Bumblebees Euglossinae - Orchid bees Meliponinae - Stingless bees Nomadinae Xylocopinae - Carpenter bees The Apidae are a large family of bees, comprising the common honeybees, stingless bees (which are also cultured for honey), carpenter bees, and bumblebees. ... Subfamilies Apinae - Honeybees Bombinae - Bumblebees Euglossinae - Orchid bees Meliponinae - Stingless bees Nomadinae Xylocopinae - Carpenter bees The Apidae are a large family of bees, comprising the common honeybees, stingless bees (which are also cultured for honey), carpenter bees, and bumblebees. ... Subfamilies Fideliinae Megachilinae Some of the genera Anthidium Coelioxys Heriades Hoplitis Megachile Osmia Stelis The Megachilidae are a cosmopolitan family of (mostly) solitary bees whose pollen-carrying structures (called scopae) are restricted to the ventral surface of the abdomen (rather than on the hind legs like in all other bee... Subfamilies Halictinae Nomiinae Nomioidinae Rophitinae Halictidae is a cosmopolitan family of the order Hymenoptera consisting of small to midsize bees which are usually dark-colored and often metallic in appearance. ... Subfamilies Alocandreninae Andreninae Oxaeinae Panurginae The family Andrenidae is a large cosmopolitan bee family, with most of the diversity in temperate and/or arid areas, including some truly enormous genera (e. ... Subfamilies Dasypodainae Meganomiinae Melittinae The family Melittidae is a small bee family, with some 110 species in 14 genera, mostly restricted to Africa and the northern temperate zone. ... Genera Ctenocolletes Stenotritus The family Stenotritidae is the smallest of all formally-recognized bee families, with only 21 species in 2 genera, all of them restricted to Australia. ... Subfamilies Colletinae Diphaglossinae Euryglossinae Hylaeinae Xeromelissinae Colletidae is a family of bees. ...

References

• The Bees of the World, C. D. Michener (2000)