Neolarra Alexanderi

''Neolarra'' is a genus of cuckoo bees in the family Apidae. There are about 16 described species in ''Neolarra'', all from North America. These bees are smaller than a grain of rice and are kleptoparasites of ''Perdita'' bees.

Description

Smaller than a grain of rice, these bees lay eggs in the nests of ''Perdita'' bees; the ''Neolarra'' egg hatches and the larva eats the egg and food store (of pollen) intended for a ''Perdita'' larva. It enters while the host bee is gone to avoid detection.

It is likely that, in order to hide them from the returning ''Perdita'' bee, the eggs are inserted into the walls of brood cells (underground chambers). In order to overpowers and kill the young ''Perdita'' egg or larva the ''Neolarra'' larva develops and uses a hard, sickle-shaped tooth.

Taxonomy

''Neolarra'' was first described in 1890 by Ashmead, as a kind of wasp instead of a bee. This was corrected by Baker in 1896. The genus ''Phileremulus'', created in 1895 when ''Neolarra'' was still considered to be a genus of wasp, was revised to be a subgenus of ''Neolarra'' by Charles Michener in 1939.

Species

These 16 species belong to the genus ''Neolarra'':

* '' Neolarra alba'' Cockerell, 1916 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra alexanderi'' Griswold & Parker, 1999 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra batrae'' Shanks, 1978 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra californica'' Michener, 1939 ^{i c g b}
* '' Neolarra clavigera'' Shanks, 1978 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra cockerelli'' (Crawford, 1916) ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra hurdi'' Shanks, 1978 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra linsleyi'' Michener, 1939 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra orbiculata'' Shanks, 1978 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra penicula'' Shanks, 1978 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra pruinosa'' Ashmead, 1890 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra rozeni'' Shanks, 1978 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra ute'' Griswold & Parker, 1999 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra vandykei'' Michener, 1939 ^{i c g}
* '' Neolarra verbesinae'' (Cockerell, 1895) ^{i c g b}
* '' Neolarra vigilans'' (Cockerell, 1895) ^{i c g b}

Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

References

Further reading

*

External links

*

Nomadinae
Bee genera
Brood parasites
Articles created by Qbugbot

{{Nomadinae-stub