redjackal's Identifications

The California Digger-cuckoo Bees in my area have been feeding on the California Buckwheat.

"Due to the chronology of dates in which this bees' various genus and species names were published, Brachymelecta californica takes precedence as the accepted name, and the five related species classified as Xeromelecta are now also part of the genus Brachymelecta. This genus, previously known from a single specimen, is now known from most of the bee collections in North America."

"They got their name in connection with the behavior similar to cuckoo birds. They have no pollen-carrying/collecting apparatus, like a scopa, because they don't need any. They also do not construct their own nests. Bees of this ecological group penetrate into the nests of other species and genera of bees, where they lay their eggs. The larva of the parasite that emerged from the egg feeds on the supply of food of the host species. They have no pollen-carrying/collecting apparatus, like a scopa, because they don't need any.Thus outwardly, they differ from other bees by the absence of an apparatus for collecting pollen, reduced hairy pubescence."

The California Digger-cuckoo Bees in my area have been feeding on the California Buckwheat.

"Due to the chronology of dates in which this bees' various genus and species names were published, Brachymelecta californica takes precedence as the accepted name, and the five related species classified as Xeromelecta are now also part of the genus Brachymelecta. This genus, previously known from a single specimen, is now known from most of the bee collections in North America."

"They got their name in connection with the behavior similar to cuckoo birds. They have no pollen-carrying/collecting apparatus, like a scopa, because they don't need any. They also do not construct their own nests. Bees of this ecological group penetrate into the nests of other species and genera of bees, where they lay their eggs. The larva of the parasite that emerged from the egg feeds on the supply of food of the host species. They have no pollen-carrying/collecting apparatus, like a scopa, because they don't need any.Thus outwardly, they differ from other bees by the absence of an apparatus for collecting pollen, reduced hairy pubescence."