Best Cuckoo Bee

The neon cuckoo bee, Thyreus nitidulus, is an Australian bee in the family Apidae, formally described in 1787. Its black body bears conspicuous patches of bright blue hair, producing the spotted appearance reflected in its common name. It is a cleptoparasite: females enter nests made by blue-banded...

Bombus vestalis, commonly called the vestal cuckoo bumblebee, is a European parasitic bumblebee described by Étienne Louis Geoffroy in Fourcroy's 1785 work. Instead of founding and provisioning its own colony, a female enters the nest of another bumblebee, chiefly the buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus t...

Bombus bohemicus, the gypsy cuckoo bumblebee, is a parasitic Eurasian species described by Seidl in 1837. It is notable for usurping the established nests of other bumblebee species.

Epeolus cruciger, described in 1798, is a parasitic cuckoo bee known for the distinctive cross-shaped markings on its thorax and its reliance on Colletes bee nests.

Described in 1758, Epeolus variegatus is a cuckoo bee species that targets plasterer bees (Colletes), distinguished by its variegated black and white abdominal bands.

Triepeolus remigatus, classified in 1804, is a North American cleptoparasitic bee noted for its striking maculated patterns and its specialization on host bees.

Coelioxys conoidea is a solitary bee native to Eurasia, notable as a kleptoparasite because females lay their eggs in the active nests of leafcutter bees to feed on their pollen.

Coelioxys rufescens is a solitary cuckoo bee found across Eurasia, notable for its parasitic breeding strategy of laying eggs in the provisioned nests of other leafcutter bees.

Stelis punctulatissima is a dark solitary bee native to Europe, notable for its cleptoparasitic lifestyle of laying eggs in the provisioned nests of other cavity-nesting bees.