I had been photographing Blue-band Bees (Amegilla sp) that had been attracted to the flowers in our garden, and thought I had finished for the day when my wife called me out to take another photo of a Blue-Banded Bee. However, the bee that she spotted was not a Blue-Banded Bee but a Chequered Cuckoo Bee (Thyreus caeruleopunctatus).
While photographing the Chequered Cuckoo Bee, a female Blue-Banded Bee arrived and started to harass the Chequered Cuckoo Bee. A little research indicated why the Blue Banded Bee was upset. As the name suggests, the Chequered Cuckoo Bee uses the nests of other bees in which it lays its eggs, in this case, the nest of Blue-Banded Bees.
As the eggs of the Chequered Cuckoo Bee hatch, the young eat the pollen and food the Blue-Banded Bee has stored for its own young. With no food available for them when they hatch, the young of the Blue-Banded Bee unfortunately die.
