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Thyreus nitidulus
"A stocky bee, notable for its brilliant metallic blue and black banded colors, cuckoo bees are stunningly beautiful but these bees lead a life of deceit! They behave like cuckoo birds -- laying their eggs in the nests of other bees. The neon cuckoo bee, Thyreus nitidulus, with glittering metallic blue spots, lays its eggs in the nests of blue banded bees (Amegilla cingulata). The female neon cuckoo bee seeks out the burrow nests of the blue-banded bee, 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." See a spotting of the host species from the same location, here http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/698...
They are particularly fond of the Brazilian button flower (Centratherum punctatum) as depicted here; in a large semi-urban yard & garden situated next to a disturbed patch of remnant forest.
6 Comments
Thanks Kerry!
Brilliant colours. The flower and the bee coordinate beautifully. Nice photo.
Thank you PunkusArnett!
The Neon Cuckoo Bee is quite handsome, very brilliant neon blue coloring. great photo!
Thank you António!
Wow ,super capture S Frazier,beautiful and great info,amazing beahvour,congrats and thanks for sharing