Exaerete smaragdina

Exaerete smaragdina is a species of kleptoparasitic euglossine bees.[1]

Exaerete smaragdina
Exaerete smaragdina from Panama. Museum specimen
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Exaerete
Species:
E. smaragdina
Binomial name
Exaerete smaragdina
(Guérin-Méneville, 1845)

Description

Exaerete smaragdina can reach a length of about 20 millimetres (0.79 in). Body color is metallic green. The metatibiae are three times longer than wide in both sexes. Like other "cuckoo bees", females lack a pollen-carrying apparatus.[2]

Behavior

These solitary bees do not build nests, as they are kleptoparasites of Eulaema nigrita and Eufriesea surinamensis. Usually they wait for the host bees to leave the nest, then they lay their eggs in a completed cell. They go through five larval stages. In the second larval stage they kill the host egg. Adult males collect aromatic substances from flowers, mainly orchids. These substances are possibly used in reproduction to attract females.[2][3][4][5]

Distribution

This species is present in Central and Southern America, from Mexico to Argentina.[2][6]

References
  1. Catalogue of life
  2. Exaerete smaragdina at Dugesiana Archived 2015-02-20 at the Wayback Machine Dugesiana 14(1): 43-44 - Universidad de Guadalajar
  3. Abejas polinizadoras de orquídea at Info Jardin
  4. Garófalo, Carlos Alberto.; Rozen, Jerome George, 1928 Parasitic behavior of Exaerete smaragdina with descriptions of its mature oocyte and larval instars (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossini). American Museum Novitates ; no. 3349
  5. Phylogeny of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Exaerete (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
  6. Disc over life


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