Rhathymini
{{Short description|Tribe of bees}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Rhathymini
| image = Rhathymus sp Female.jpg
| image_caption = Rhathymus sp. (female)
| taxon = Rhathymini
| authority = Lepeletier, 1841
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision =
}}
The Rhathymini are a tribe of kleptoparasitic apid bees ("cuckoo bees").{{Cite journal |last1=Martins |first1=Aline C. |last2=Luz |first2=David R. |last3=Melo |first3=Gabriel A. R. |date=July 2018 |title=Palaeocene origin of the Neotropical lineage of cleptoparasitic bees Ericrocidini-Rhathymini (Hymenoptera, Apidae) |url=https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/syen.12286 |journal=Systematic Entomology |language=en |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=510–521 |doi=10.1111/syen.12286 |bibcode=2018SysEn..43..510M |s2cid=89660405 |issn=0307-6970|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite book |last=Michener |first=Charles D. |url=https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/9040/bees-world |title=The Bees of the World |date=2007 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-8573-0 |language=en}}
Description
The Rhathymini consists of bees typically moderate to large in size, ranging {{cvt|13–28|mm}} body length.{{Cite journal |last1=Engel |first1=Michael S. |last2=Michener |first2=Charles D. |last3=Rightmyer |first3=Molly G. |date=2004 |title=The Cleptoparasitic Bee Tribe Rhathymini (Hymenoptera: Apidae): Description of a New Genus and a Tribal Review |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/36905 |journal=Journal of Hymenoptera Research |volume=13 |pages=1–12}}
Visually, scholars have compared their appearance to that of vespid wasps (especially Polistes), or the giant species of the bee genus Nomada.
Behavior
As a kleptoparasitic species, the Rhathymini forego the typical pollination process common amongst bee species to feed their offspring, and instead lay their eggs within the nests already provisioned by other bee species.
Rhathymini have been documented to display aggression toward other bee ecosystems, including documented instances of attacking the nests of other bees.{{Cite journal |last1=Ayala |first1=Ricardo |last2=Hinojosa-Díaz |first2=Ismael A. |last3=Armas-Quiñonez |first3=Ana Gabriela |date=2019-11-18 |title=A new species of Rhathymus Lepeletier amp; Serville, 1828 (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Rhathymini) from Guatemala |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32229995/ |journal=Zootaxa |volume=4700 |issue=1 |pages=zootaxa.4700.1.7 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4700.1.7 |issn=1175-5334 |pmid=32229995|s2cid=209602330 }}
Genera
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Brood parasite}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3429295}}
Category:Taxa named by Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier
{{Apinae-stub}}