We just collected an
intriguing pair of bees in a well-tended back garden in Reading: the
cleptoparasitic (thieving) Melecta
albifrons (Cuckoo Bee) and its host Anthophora
plumipes (the Hairy-Footed Flower Bee). The female Cuckoo bee will lay her egg in a Flower Bee burrow, next to
the pollen gathered by the Flower bee. Then her larva will hatch and consume
the food that was intended for the Flower Bee’s own offspring. The bees were
collected in quick succession on a Lunaria
annua and a Symphytum officinalis
flower. They’re most common in the South-East of England, so keep a look out
for the species if you have a Flower Bee colony in your garden!
On the left side you see the Flower Bee with collected pollen at its legs, on the right is the Cuckoo Bee.
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