Hitchhiking meloid larva upon male Eulaema mocsaryi (Hymenoptera: Apidae): a new host cleptoparasite interaction in the Amazon rainforest

ABSTRACT

The Amazon rainforest is one of the planet’s biodiversity hotspots, hosting a rich orchid bee fauna. The phoretic cleptoparasites of this bee fauna are largely unknown. We report for the first time the host–cleptoparasite interaction between Eulaema mocsaryi (Friese) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossini) and the first instar larva (triungulin) of a Tetraonycini meloid beetle. We review the host–cleptoparasite interactions of Tetraonycini with Apid bees in South America and discuss the ecological needs of the cleptoparasite.

KEYWORDS:

• Cleptoparasite
• ecological relationship
• orchid bees
• phoretic Meloidae
• Tetraonycini

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Tetsuo Yamane for his unconditional support, the specialists Mario Alberto Bologna and Andrea Di Giulio for phoretic meloid identification as well as M. A. Bologna for personal comments, and Matthias Seidel for his comments as well as two anonymous reviewers and Anne Zillikens for helpful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

We acknowledge financial support by the INCT (National Institute of Science and Technology), Center for Environmental and Biodiversity Studies (CEAB), Amazon State University (UEA), Manaus, AM, the COBRG-CNPq (Coordenação do Programa de Pesquisa em Biotecnologia e Recursos Genéticos – National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development) for fellowships for AF and SB and CNPq and FAPEAM for research support.