Thyreus lugubris
Female
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Apidae
Genus:	Thyreus
Species:	T. lugibris
Binomial name
Thyreus lugibris (Smith, 1879)

Thyreus lugubris, common name the domino cuckoo bee, is a species of Australian native bee belonging to the family Apidae, subfamily Apinae.^[1]

As with the other bees in this genus, Thyreus lugubris is cleptoparasitic. The hosts for the Thyreus genus are bees of the Amegilla genus. Thyreus lugubris specifically targets the teddy bear bee, Amegilla bombiformis.

Females may be seen flying close to the ground searching for a host nest. Once a suitable nest is found, the female will enter it while the host parent is absent and bite a hole through the cap of a recently closed cell. It then places its abdomen through the hole and lays an egg close to the host egg before repairing the breach to the cell.^[2]

References

^{[1] [2]}