''Triepeolus'' is a genus of

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 in the family

Apidae Apidae is the largest family within the superfamily Apoidea, containing at least 5700 species of bees. The family includes some of the most commonly seen bees, including bumblebees and honey bees, but also includes stingless bees (also used for ...

. There are at least 140 described species in ''Triepeolus''.Sharkey M.J. (2007). ''Phylogeny and Classification of Hymenoptera''."Phylogenetic relationships among superfamilies of Hymenoptera", Sharkey M.J., Carpenter J.M., Vilhelmsen L., et al. 2012. ''Cladistics'' 28(1): 80-112. The majority of species whose life history is known are

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 ...

in the nests of bees in the tribe

Eucerini The Eucerini (often called long-horned bees) are the most diverse tribe in the family Apidae, with over 32 genera worldwide that were previously classified as members of the family Anthophoridae. All species are solitary, though many nest in lar ...

, especially the genera ''

Melissodes ''Melissodes'' is a genus of long-horned bees in the family Apidae. There are at least 140 described species in ''Melissodes''. ITIS Taxonomic note: *The gender of the name "Melissodes" has traditionally been considered as feminine by taxonomist ...

'' and '' Svastra''.

References

* Michener, Charles D. (2007). ''The Bees of the World, Second Edition'', xvi + 953. * Moure, J. S., and G. A. R. Melo / Moure, Jesus Santiago, Danúncia Urban, and Gabriel A. R. Melo, org (2007). "Nomadini Latreille, 1802". ''Catalogue of bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) in the neotropical region'', 578–599. * Rightmyer, Molly G. (2004). "Phylogeny and classification of the parasitic bee tribe Epeolini (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Nomadinae)". ''Scientific Papers of the Natural History Museum of the University of Kansas, no. 33'', 1-51. * Rightmyer, Molly G. (2008). "A review of the cleptoparasitic bee genus ''Triepeolus'' (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Part I
Zootaxa

See also

References

Further reading