Exaerete smaragdina
{{Short description|Species of bee}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Exaerete smaragdina 448429782.jpg
| image_caption = Exaerete smaragdina from Peru.
| taxon = Exaerete smaragdina
| authority = (Guérin-Méneville, 1845)
| synonyms =
}}
Exaerete smaragdina is a species of kleptoparasitic euglossine bees.[http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2011/details/species/id/6971686 Catalogue of life]
Description
Exaerete smaragdina can reach a length of about {{convert|20|mm}}. 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.[http://dugesiana.cucba.udg.mx/dugesiana_jul2007/14_1Exaerete.pdf Exaerete smaragdina at Dugesiana] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220130009/http://dugesiana.cucba.udg.mx/dugesiana_jul2007/14_1Exaerete.pdf |date=2015-02-20 }} Dugesiana 14(1): 43-44 - Universidad de Guadalajar
File:Apidae - Exaerete smaragdina.JPG. Museum specimen.]]
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.[http://www.infojardin.com/foro/showthread.php?t=126527 Abejas polinizadoras de orquídea at Info Jardin]Garófalo, Carlos Alberto.; Rozen, Jerome George, 1928 [http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/2902 Parasitic behavior of Exaerete smaragdina with descriptions of its mature oocyte and larval instars (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossini).] American Museum Novitates ; no. 3349[https://www.academia.edu/3077771/Phylogeny_of_the_cleptoparasitic_bee_genus_Exaerete_Hymenoptera_Apidae_ Phylogeny of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Exaerete (Hymenoptera: Apidae)]
Distribution
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2747771}}
Category:Hymenoptera of North America
Category:Hymenoptera of South America
Category:Insects of Central America
Category:Insects described in 1845
{{Apinae-stub}}