''Thyreus lugubris'', common name the domino cuckoo bee, is a species of Australian native

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 ...

belonging to the family

Apidae Apidae is the largest family within the superfamily Apoidea, containing at least 5700 species of bees. The family includes some of the most commonly seen bees, including bumblebees and honey bees, but also includes stingless bees (also used for ...

, subfamily

Apinae The Apinae are the subfamily that includes the majority of bees in the family Apidae. It includes the familiar "pollen basket, corbiculate" (pollen basket) bees—bumblebees, honey bees, euglossini, orchid bees, stingless bees, and the extinct ge ...

.BioLib https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id763449/ As with the other bees in this genus, ''T. lugubris'' is cleptoparasitic. The hosts for ''Thyreus'' are bees of the genus ''

Amegilla ''Amegilla'' is a large genus of bees in the tribe Anthophorini. It has been split into many subgenera, including '' Asaropoda'', ''Micramegilla,'' '' Notomegilla'' and '' Zonamegilla''. Description ''Amegilla'' are generally medium-sized to ...

''. ''Thyreus lugubris'' specifically targets the teddy bear bee, '' Amegilla bombiformis''. Females may be seen flying close to the ground searching for a host nest. Once a suitable nest is found, the female will enter it while the host parent is absent and bite a hole through the cap of a recently closed cell. It then places its abdomen through the hole and lays an egg close to the host egg before repairing the breach to the cell.

References

Apinae Insects described in 1879 {{Apinae-stub