''Exaerete smaragdina'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

kleptoparasitic Kleptoparasitism (etymologically, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, which can mean when foo ...

euglossine The tribe Euglossini, in the subfamily Apinae, commonly known as orchid bees or euglossine bees, are the only group of corbiculate bees whose non-parasitic members do not all possess eusocial behavior. Description Most of the tribe's species ...

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

Description

''Exaerete smaragdina'' can reach a length of about . The body shape of these bees is euceriform. Body color is metallic green. The metatibiae are three times longer than wide in both sexes. Like other "

cuckoo bee The term cuckoo bee is used for a variety of different bee lineages which have evolved the kleptoparasitism, kleptoparasitic behaviour of laying their eggs in the nests of other bees, reminiscent of the behavior of cuckoo birds. The name is perhap ...

s", females lack a pollen-carrying apparatus.Exaerete smaragdina at Dugesiana
Dugesiana 14(1): 43-44 - Universidad de Guadalajar

Behavior

These solitary bees do not build nests, as they are

kleptoparasite Kleptoparasitism (etymologically, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, which can mean when fo ...

s of ''

Eulaema nigrita ''Eulaema'' is a genus of large-bodied euglossine bees that occur primarily in the Neotropics. They are robust brown or black bees, hairy or velvety, and often striped with yellow or orange, typically resembling bumblebees. They lack metallic co ...

'' 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.

Distribution

This species is present in Central and Southern America, from Mexico to Argentina.Disc over life
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References

smaragdina Hymenoptera of North America Hymenoptera of South America Insects of Central America Insects of Mexico Insects described in 1845 Orchid pollinators {{Apinae-stub