Psithyrus

Psithyrus insularis

The cuckoo bumblebees ( Psithyrus ) are a sub- genus of humble-bees of the superfamily of bees.

Cuckoo bumblebees are so-called social parasites of bumble bees ( Bombus). Unlike other representatives of that genus have the cuckoo bumblebees no special Hairy legs to collect pollen. Also missing from the peoples of these insects, the group of workers: A nation consists exclusively of drones and whole females (which would popularly referred to as the bumblebee queens ). Because of their parasitic way of life these animals are named after the cuckoo, which can raise his boys from foreign parents. Similarly, the cuckoo bumblebees leave the other bumblebees work for you, that provide food, and their hatchlings great care.

Way of life

Often the species of cuckoo great similarity with the hosts, but this is not always so. The cuckoo bumble bee some time after the queens of the bumblebee species in which they parasitize. The hatched female enters the nest under construction conceived a bumblebee queen and starts laying eggs. In this case, there are often conflicts between the invading cuckoo queen and living in the nest workers that are not made ​​generally against the cuckoo. A battle of two queens on the other hand seems to be the exception.

Consequences for the hosts

The greater danger for the host queen is that it is received at neglect by their own workers.

The invading cuckoo bumblebee now begins with the Oophagie, that is, they consume the eggs of the host queen, while they themselves begin to lay eggs. Conversely, the eggs of the cuckoo bumblebee from the host queen and the remaining workers are eaten occasionally.

Hatched cuckoo bumblebees are not involved in gathering food and hardly in brood care. Also, they leave the nest to mate the Bombus - people. The mated females overwinter full analogy to the queens of Bombus bumblebees in hiding places.

System

The cuckoo bumblebees were considered a long time by most authors as a distinct genus. Phylogenetic studies in the 1990s showed, however, that cuckoo bumble bees and bumble bees are not in a sister group relationship, the genus Bombus is paraphyletic, after elimination of Psithyrus. Differences in physique of cuckoo bumblebees are largely just an adaptation to the different way of life, but not an indication of a different lineage. One solution would be the splitting of the genus Bombus in other genera, which is rejected by most experts because of the pronounced homogeneity of the group. According to the currently accepted state of the system therefore Psithyrus is considered only as a subgenus of Bombus.

Species

• Bearded cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus ( Psithyrus ) barbutellus )
• Tailed Cuckoo Bumblebee (Bombus ( Psithyrus ) bohemicus )
• Field - cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus ( Psithyrus ) campestris )
• Yellow Alpine cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus ( Psithyrus ) flavidus )
• Norwegian cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus ( Psithyrus ) norvegicus)
• Four-color cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus ( Psithyrus ) quadricolor )
• Rocks cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus ( Psithyrus ) rupestris )
• Forest cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus ( Psithyrus ) sylvestris)
• Chaste parasites Hummel ( Chaste cuckoo bumblebee, Bombus ( Psithyrus ) vestalis )