''Coelioxys'', common name leaf-cutting cuckoo bees or sharp-tailed bees , is a genus of solitary

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 f ...

brood parasitic Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its ow ...

bees, belonging to the family

Megachilidae Megachilidae is a cosmopolitan family of mostly solitary bees. Both that their pollen-carrying structure (called a '' scopa'') is restricted to the ventral surface of the abdomen (rather than mostly or exclusively on the hind legs as in other ...

Diversity

The genus includes about 500 species in 15 subgenera.

Selected species

* '' Coelioxys angulata'' * '' Coelioxys apicata'' * '' Coelioxys capitata'' * '' Coelioxys fenestrata'' * '' Coelioxys formosicola'' * '' Coelioxys fuscipennis'' * '' Coelioxys minuta'' * '' Coelioxys nitidoscutellaris'' * '' Coelioxys rufitarsis'' * '' Coelioxys sodalis'' For a complete list, see List of ''Coelioxys'' species.

Distribution

''Coelioxys'' species can be found in most European countries, in the Afrotropical realm, in the East

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sib ...

, in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, in the

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

and

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

Description

Bees within this genus can reach a length of . They show a broad head with large complex eyes and broad thorax and abdomen. Their body is only moderately hairy. They are usually black with white hair stripes. Legs maybe red or black. The females of ''Coelioxys'' species have a long pointed abdomen that resembles a cone, used to pierce the leaf lining in the laying of eggs. The male's abdomen is armed with spines or teeth. They are known to sometimes sleep upside down on vegetation.

Biology

These cuckoo bees are usually active from June to September, depending on the specific host species. They have no pollen-carrying adaptations, as they do not need to provision nests. Adults feed on nectar at flowers of a wide range of different nectar plants. In fact they mainly lay their eggs in the nests of bees in the genus ''

Megachile The genus ''Megachile'' is a cosmopolitan group of solitary bees, often called leafcutter bees or leafcutting bees; it also includes the called resin bees and mortar bees. While other genera within the family Megachilidae may chew leaves or pet ...

'', but also in the nests of '' Osmia'' and ''

Anthophora The bee genus ''Anthophora'' is one of the largest in the family Apidae, with over 450 species worldwide in 14 different subgenera. They are most abundant and diverse in the Holarctic and African biogeographic regions. All species are solitary, th ...

'', on their provisions of pollen. As this behavior is similar to that of

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

s, such bees are sometimes referred to as "cuckoo bees". These host-parasite relationships are quite complex. The larvae of ''Coelioxys'' species kill the host larvae with their strongly developed mandibles and feed on the host's pollen provisions. They spin a cocoon at 11–16 days. These species are usually

univoltine Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism. ...

, but for some species a second generation is possible.

Gallery

File:Coelioxys rufescens.JPG, ''Coelioxys rufescens'' File:Female Coelioxys on Carlina curetum 1.JPG, ''Coelioxys acanthura'' File:Coelioxys inermis f.jpg, ''Coelioxys inermis'' File:Coelioxys sodalis, F, side, Maine, Hancock County 2013-03-15-14.19.27 ZS PMax (8593895542).jpg, '' Coelioxys sodalis''

References

* Baker, J. R. 1975. Taxonomy of five nearctic subgenera of Coelioxys (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). University of Kansas Science Bulletin 50: 649–730.

External links

Wildbienen
Brood parasites Bee genera Articles containing video clips {{Megachilidae-stub