Cuckoo bee

A bee that lays eggs in another bee’s nest, where its offspring use the host’s provisions or kill its offspring. This reproductive strategy is called brood parasitism.

Brood parasitism: A reproductive strategy in which an animal lays eggs in another animal’s nest, relying on the host to raise its young. Cuckoo bees are brood parasites that place their eggs in other bees’ nests.
Solitary bee: A bee whose female typically builds and provisions her own nest without a worker caste. Many cuckoo bees target the individually provisioned nests of solitary bees.
Nomada: A large genus of cuckoo bees whose species parasitize the nests of other bees, especially Andrena. Nomada provides a familiar example of cuckoo bees targeting solitary-bee nests.
Brood care: The behaviors by which an animal protects, feeds, or otherwise supports its developing young. Unlike nest-building host bees, cuckoo bees usually leave brood care to another bee.
Host specificity: The degree to which a parasite relies on one host species or a narrow set of hosts. Cuckoo bee species vary in how narrowly they target host bees.
Cleptoparasitism: A form of parasitism in which an animal steals food gathered or stored by another animal. Some cuckoo bee larvae consume provisions collected by the host bee.
Bee: A pollinating insect in the superfamily Apoidea, usually distinguished by branched body hairs and larval dependence on pollen. Cuckoo bees are bees with a specialized reproductive strategy.
Stelis: A genus of cuckoo bees that parasitize the nests of other bees, including some mason bees. Stelis illustrates cuckoo bees that exploit nests provisioned by unrelated bee groups.
Social parasitism: A strategy in which one social animal exploits the colony organization or labor of another. Social parasites exploit colonies, whereas many cuckoo bees target individual nest cells.
Parasite–host dynamics: Changes in parasite and host populations shaped by their interactions over time. Cuckoo bees can affect host reproduction, while host abundance constrains parasite populations.

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