Cuckoo Bees
What are they?
Cuckoo Bees are rather variable in appearance, ranging from chunky, bumblebee-like insects to more slender species that are more or less hairless and more like bees in appearance. What they have in common is that they don't build their own nests but instead leave their young to be brought up in the nests of other species. As such, they tend not to be seen collecting pollen as they don't need to provide for their young.
Identification
A variable bunch of insects with few readily noticeable features to draw them all together - though most are more or less hairless and rather wasp-like in general appearance.
Triepeolus remigatus
A colorful bee, cleary marked in creamy yellow and black. This species is a cleptoparasite of other bees, with members of the genera Xenoglossa and Peponapis being mentioned elsewhere as potential hosts; the female lays eggs in the hosts species' nest and the larvae feed on food intended for the host larvae.
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