Rhathymini Explained

The Rhathymini are a tribe of kleptoparasitic apid bees ("cuckoo bees").^{[1] [2]}

Description

The Rhathymini consists of bees typically moderate to large in size, ranging 13–28 mm body length.^[3]

Visually, scholars have compared their appearance to that of vespid wasps (especially Polistes), or the giant species of the bee genus Nomada.

Behavior

As a kleptoparasitic species, the Rhathymini forego the typical pollination process common amongst bee species to feed their offspring, and instead lay their eggs within the nests already provisioned by other bee species.^[1]

Rhathymini have been documented to display aggression toward other bee ecosystems, including documented instances of attacking the nests of other bees.^{[1] [4]}

Genera

• Nanorhathymus
• Rhathymus

References

1. Martins . Aline C. . Luz . David R. . Melo . Gabriel A. R. . July 2018 . Palaeocene origin of the N eotropical lineage of cleptoparasitic bees E ricrocidini- R hathymini (H ymenoptera, A pidae) . Systematic Entomology . en . 43 . 3 . 510–521 . 10.1111/syen.12286 . 2018SysEn..43..510M . 89660405 . 0307-6970.
2. Book: Michener, Charles D. . The Bees of the World . 2007 . Johns Hopkins University Press . 978-0-8018-8573-0 . en.
3. Engel . Michael S. . Michener . Charles D. . Rightmyer . Molly G. . 2004 . The Cleptoparasitic Bee Tribe Rhathymini (Hymenoptera: Apidae): Description of a New Genus and a Tribal Review . Journal of Hymenoptera Research . 13 . 1–12.
4. Ayala . Ricardo . Hinojosa-Díaz . Ismael A. . Armas-Quiñonez . Ana Gabriela . 2019-11-18 . A new species of Rhathymus Lepeletier amp; Serville, 1828 (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Rhathymini) from Guatemala . Zootaxa . 4700 . 1 . zootaxa.4700.1.7 . 10.11646/zootaxa.4700.1.7 . 1175-5334 . 32229995. 209602330 .