''Eulaema mocsaryi'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of large-bodied

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

in the tribe

Euglossini The tribe Euglossini, in the subfamily Apinae, commonly known as orchid bees or euglossine bees, are the only group of corbiculate bees whose non-parasitic members do not all possess eusocial behavior. Description Most of the tribe's species ...

, the orchid bees. It was named in honour of the Hungarian entomologist Alexander Mocsáry,

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the

Hungarian Natural History Museum The Hungarian Natural History Museum ( hu, Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum) in Budapest, dating back to 1802, houses the largest natural history collections of Hungary and the region. History of the museum Foundation In 1802, Count Fere ...

. It is native to forests in parts of tropical South America.

Description

The head of ''Eulaema mocsaryi'' has a central raised ridge and both head and thorax are clad in short velvety black hairs. The colour of head and thorax is mainly black. The legs are black and hairy and the tibial joints of the hind legs are wide and compressed. The dark-coloured abdomen is densely covered with short tawny-yellowish hairs, becoming paler towards the tip of the abdomen.

Distribution

''Eulaema mocsaryi'' is native to the forests of Colombia, Surinam and the Amazon basin in Brazil.

Ecology

''Eulaema mocsaryi'' has been seen visiting the flowers of ''

Solanum toxicarium ''Solanum'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solanaceae ...

'' and ''

Polygala spectabilis ''Polygala'' is a large genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae. They are commonly known as milkworts or snakeroots. The genus is distributed widely throughout much of the worldmutualistic relationship with the orchid ''

Cattleya eldorado ''Cattleya'' () is a genus of orchids from Costa Rica south to Argentina. The genus is abbreviated C in trade journals. Description Epiphytic or terrestrial orchids with cylindrical rhizome from which the fleshy noodle-like roots grow. Pseu ...

'', from which it obtains fragrances which it stores in cavities in its hind legs. Research was undertaken to identify which insects pollinated the flowers of the

Brazil nut The Brazil nut (''Bertholletia excelsa'') is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and it is also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seeds. It is one of the largest and longest-lived trees in the Amazon rainforest ...

tree (''Bertholletia excelsa''). It was found that a number of species of bee did so and that ''Eulaema mocsaryi'' was one of the most frequent visitors and played an important role in pollination, visiting several flowers on each tree and moving from tree to tree. The researchers concluded that for successful pollination to take place in commercial Brazil nut plantations, the plantations needed to be surrounded by intact primary forest with its

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

orchid population to supply the other needs of these orchid bees.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3949888 mocs Hymenoptera of South America Insects described in 1899 Orchid pollinators