Aglaoapis

Aglaoapis are small to medium-sized cuckoo-bees. In the Old World, they are distributed throughout Eurasia and South Africa. They are darkly colored with whitish hairs and a set of tooth-like thoracic spines. They are generally less conspicuous than other cuckoo bees. Females have slightly tapered abdomens, slender mandibles with two teeth and a sting that is stunted. Males are similar in appearance to females and should be distinguished from similar bees by their genitalia. They attack the nests of other megachilids such as Megachile, Osmia and Hoplitis. Regionally, they are considered a rare find, but females can be seen while patrolling the nesting sites of their host species near the ground surface. They lay their eggs directly on the food supplies of the brood cells, which upon hatching destroy the offspring of the host and consume the food supplies.