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cuckoo bee
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Cuckoo bee
Cuckoo bee A neon cuckoo bee (Thyreus nitidulus) using its mandibles to grasp a plant stalk to rest.

cuckoo bee

insect
Written by
Anna Dubey
Anna Dubey is a freelance writer at Encyclopædia Britannica. 
Anna Dubey
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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cuckoo bee, any of more than 3,000 species of solitary bees that engage in brood parasitism, a form of kleptoparasitism in which the bees deposit their eggs in the food-provisioned nests of other bees. Cuckoo bees are found on every continent except Antarctica and occupy a range of habitats. The term cuckoo bee is a behavioral descriptor and not a taxonomic group. As such, bees that exhibit this behavior are found in a number of...

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