Kingdom Animalia Subphylum Hexapoda Suborder Apocrita Scientific name Thyreus Rank Genus | Phylum Arthropoda Order Hymenoptera Superfamily Apoidea Higher classification Apidae | |
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Similar Bee, Amegilla, Insect, Apidae, Melecta | ||
Melectid bee thyreus ramosus
Thyreus is an Old World genus of bees, one of many that are commonly known as cuckoo bees, and are cleptoparasites of other species of bees, mostly in the genus Amegilla. They all have strongly contrasting patterns of coloration - three species from the Sydney region, Thyreus nitidulus, T. lugubris, and T. caeruleopunctatus are bright blue and black.
References
Thyreus Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA