bee bright geeen, m, argentina, side_2014-08-07-17.43.37 ZS PMax by Sam Droege on Flickr.
Temnosoma, Unknown Metallic Cuckoo Bee, collected in Argentina. A metallic green bee similar to many metallic green bees in the Sweat Bee family Halictiadae, but if you were to look at one under the microscope you would find that the female has no pollen collecting hairs and thus would probably conclude that it is a bee but one that does not collect pollen and therefore it must be a nest parasite and you would be right. These bees lay their eggs in the nests of close relatives. Something else you would notice would be the large number of craters on the surface of this bee’s exoskeleton – these doubtless help trap any sharp sting or mandible tip of a host bee that the cuckoo discovers while attempting to do its darstadly deeds. This group of 7 species occurs from the United States down to Argentina.
