Thyreus nitidulus

Last updated

Thyreus nitidulus
Cloak and Dagger Cuckoo Bee.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Thyreus
Species:
T. nitidulus
Binomial name
Thyreus nitidulus
(Fabricius, 1804)

Thyreus nitidulus, commonly known as the neon cuckoo bee, is a parasitic bee of the genus Thyreus , called cuckoo bees. It is a stocky bee, notable for its brilliant metallic blue- and black-banded colors.

Originally described by Danish entomologist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1804 as Melecta nitidula – from a collection in the Aru Islands or northern Australia – it was given its current scientific name Thyreus nitidulus in 1959 by M. A. Lieftinck. [1] The specific epithet is derived from the diminutive of the Latin adjective nitidus "shining" (i.e. "little shiny one").

Several subspecies are known - the nominate race T. n. nitidulus is found across eastern and northern Australia, specifically New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and the Northern Territory, as well as New Guinea. Other species are found in Southeast Asia. [2]

Like all bees, the neon cuckoo bee is covered by furry, branched, flattened hair, which is responsible for both the black and blue colours. Pale blue hair covers much of the face on the head, as well as patches on the sides of the thorax and the legs. The abdomen is striped with bright blue and black, and the transparent wings are purple-tinged brown in colour. The bee is sturdy in build, with a reinforced thorax. [2]

The female neon cuckoo bee seeks out the burrow nests of the blue-banded bee (Amegilla cingulata), and lays an egg into a partly completed brood cell while it is unguarded. The larval cuckoo bee then consumes the larder and later emerges from the cell. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Euchrysops cnejus</i> Species of butterfly

Euchrysops cnejus, the gram blue, is a small butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. It is found from India to Australia. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1798.

<i>Thopha saccata</i> Australian species of cicada

Thopha saccata, the double drummer, is the largest Australian species of cicada and reputedly the loudest insect in the world. Documented by the Danish zoologist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1803, it was the first described and named cicada native to Australia. Its common name comes from the large dark red-brown sac-like pockets that the adult male has on each side of its abdomen—the "double drums"—that are used to amplify the sound it produces.

<i>Bombus campestris</i> Species of bee

Bombus campestris is a very common cuckoo bumblebee found in most of Europe.

<i>Bombus citrinus</i> Species of bee

Bombus citrinus is a species of bumblebee known commonly as the lemon cuckoo bumblebee due to its lemon-yellow color. It is native to eastern North America.

<i>Bombus insularis</i> Species of bee

Bombus insularis is a species of bumblebee in the subgenus Psithyrus, the cuckoo bumblebees. It is native to northern and western North America, where it occurs throughout Canada, Alaska, the northern United States, and some western states. It is known commonly as the indiscriminate cuckoo bumblebee.

<i>Amegilla cingulata</i> Species of bee

Amegilla cingulata is a species of blue-banded bee native to Australia. Currently, several scientific organizations are conducting research on how A. cingulata benefits agriculture through its distinctive "buzz pollination".

<i>Arcte coerula</i> Species of moth

Arcte coerula, the ramie moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found from in south-east Asia, including Fiji, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Japan, New Guinea, Taiwan and Norfolk Island. It has been recently observed in Hawaii, on the island of Maui.

<i>Thyreus</i> Genus of bees

Thyreus is an Old World genus of bees, one of many that are commonly known as cuckoo bees, and are cleptoparasites of other species of bees, mostly in the genus Amegilla. They all have strongly contrasting patterns of coloration - three species from the Sydney region, Thyreus nitidulus, T. lugubris, and T. caeruleopunctatus are bright blue and black.

<i>Amegilla bombiformis</i> Species of bee from Australia

Amegilla bombiformis, commonly known as the teddy bear bee or golden haired mortar bee, is an Australian native bee in the family Apidae.

<i>Thyreus caeruleopunctatus</i> Species of bee

Thyreus caeruleopunctatus, commonly known as the chequered cuckoo bee, is a parasitic bee of the genus Thyreus, also called cuckoo bees. It is a stocky bee, notable for its brilliant metallic blue and black banded colors.

<i>Catochrysops strabo</i> Species of butterfly

Catochrysops strabo, the forget-me-not, is a small butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793. It is found in Sri Lanka, India, from Sikkim to Indochina and in Sundaland, Sulawesi and the Philippines.

<i>Asota caricae</i> Species of moth

Asota caricae, the tropical tiger moth, is a species of noctuoid moth in the family Erebidae. It is found from the Indo-Australian tropics of India and Sri Lanka to Queensland and Vanuatu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashy mining bee</span> Species of bee

The ashy mining bee, also known as the Danubian miner or grey mining bee, is a species of sand bee found in Europe. Its distinctive colouring makes it one of the most easily recognised of the genus. The females are black, with two broad grey hair bands across the thorax. The male is also black although the thorax is entirely covered with grey hairs. The male has a tuft of white hairs on the lower face and white hairs on all femora while the female has white hairs only on the front femora. The female has twelve segments to their antennae and the male has thirteen.

<i>Thopha sessiliba</i> Species of true bug

Thopha sessiliba, commonly known as the northern double drummer, is an Australian cicada native to Queensland, the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia. Adults perch almost exclusively on ghost gums.

<i>Megachile campanulae</i> Species of bee

Megachile campanulae, known as the bellflower resin bee, is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae. Described in 1903, these solitary bees are native to eastern North America. Studies in 2013 placed them among the first insect species to use synthetic materials for making nests. They are considered mason bees, which is a common descriptor of bees in several families, including Megachilidae. Within the genus Megachile, frequently also referred to as leafcutter bees, M. campanulae is a member of the subgenus Chelostomoides, which do not construct nests from cut leaves, but rather from plant resins and other materials. Females lay eggs in nests constructed with individual cell compartments for each egg. Once hatched, the eggs progress through larval stages and subsequently will overwinter as pupae. The bees are susceptible to parasitism from several other bee species, which act as brood parasites. They are medium-sized bees and the female adults are typically larger than the males. They are important pollinators of numerous native plant species throughout their range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thyreus lugubris</span> Species of bee

Thyreus lugubris, is a species of Australian native bee belonging to the family Apidae subfamily Apinae.

<i>Andrena vaga</i> Species of insect

Andrena vaga, the grey-backed mining bee, is a species of solitary bee which is found in most of Europe but which is very rare in Great Britain, where it may be recolonizing in the south-east after previously being extirpated. It specialises in feeding on the pollen of willows.

<i>Andrena bicolor</i> Species of bee

Andrena bicolor, or Gwynne's mining bee, is a common and widespread Western Palearctic mining bee which is found over most of Europe as well as North Africa and the Middle East and which reaches eastwards into Siberia.

<i>Thyreus denolii</i> Species of insect

Thyreus denolli is an African species of kleptoparisitic bee. It belongs to the tribe Melectini and to the genus Thyreus, the members of which are often referred to as 'Cuckoo bees', due to their parasitic behaviour. It is one of the most distinctive Thyreus bees in Cape Verde.

<i>Andrena helvola</i> Species of bee

Andrena helvola , the coppice mining bee, is a Palearctic species of mining bee from the genus Andrena.

References

  1. Australian Faunal Index Species Thyreus nitidulus (Fabricius, 1804)
  2. 1 2 3 Dollin, Anne; Batley, Michael (2000). Native Bees of the Sydney Region. North Richmond, NSW: Australian Native Bee Research Centre. p. 55. ISBN   1-876307-07-2.