Lestrimelitta

Lestrimelitta is a genus of stingless bees found in the Neotropics, from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina, with 19 known species . They are small, shining black species from 4mm to 7mm, with rounded heads and reduced pollen-carrying apparatus. Unlike most eusocial bees, they do not gather their own pollen and nectar from flowers, and thus are not pollinators, but instead they invade the colonies of other stingless bee species and rob their pollen and honey stores (a phenomenon called "cleptobiosis"). They do not initiate their own nests, but they will "evict" another stingless bee colony from its nest (usually in a tree cavity), and convert the pre-existing nest to house their own colony.

References

• C. D. Michener (2000) The Bees of the World, Johns Hopkins University Press.