Best Social Parasite
Bombus flavidus is a species of cuckoo bumble bee belonging to the family Apidae. As a brood parasite, it lacks its own worker caste and survives by infiltrating the nests of true bumble bees, where it relies on host workers to raise its offspring. The species exhibits a wide Holarctic distribution,...
Bombus barbutellus, commonly known as Barbut's cuckoo bee, is a species of cuckoo bumblebee in the family Apidae. Like other cuckoo bumblebees, it functions as an obligate social parasite: females invade the nests of host bumblebee species, primarily Bombus hortorum and Bombus ruderatus, where they...
Bombus rupestris is a European cuckoo bumblebee in the family Apidae and a social parasite primarily associated with the red-tailed bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius. A female enters a host nest and uses its workers to rear her reproductive offspring rather than producing a worker caste of her own. Femal...
Suckley's cuckoo bumblebee, Bombus suckleyi, is a socially parasitic bumblebee native to North America. Females do not establish colonies or produce a worker caste; instead, they enter colonies of suitable host bumblebees, displace or kill the resident queen, and use the host workers to rear reprodu...
The vestal cuckoo bumblebee, Bombus vestalis, is a socially parasitic species found across much of Europe and neighboring parts of Asia and North Africa. A female enters a colony of the buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, displaces or kills its queen, and induces the remaining workers to rear...
Bombus bohemicus is a cuckoo bumblebee described by Seidl in 1837 and distributed across the Palearctic. It is a social parasite with no worker caste of its own. Instead, mated females infiltrate the colonies of host bumblebees—primarily Bombus terrestris and Bombus lucorum—where they dominate or el...
Bombus norvegicus is a European cuckoo bumblebee whose females invade nests of the tree bumblebee, Bombus hypnorum, instead of founding colonies.
The Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bumblebee (Bombus insularis) is a North American social parasite notable for invading the nests of other bumblebee species to reproduce.
The arctic cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus hyperboreus) is a parasitic insect native to the high Arctic, notable because females usurp the nests of other bumblebees to reproduce.
Bombus campestris, described by Panzer in 1801, is a cuckoo bumblebee targeting carder bee nests, with females that mimic the appearance of their hosts.
Bombus sylvestris, described by Lepeletier in 1832, is a cuckoo bumblebee that parasitizes the nests of Bombus pratorum and other early-nesting bumblebees.
The lemon cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus citrinus) is a parasitic North American species that does not build its own nests, instead invading the colonies of other bumblebees.
Bombus barbutellus, described by Kirby in 1801, is a cuckoo bumblebee that primarily parasitizes the nests of Bombus hortorum across Europe.
