Hitchhiking meloid larva upon maleEulaema mocsaryi(Hymenoptera: Apidae): a new host cleptoparasite interaction in the Amazon rainforest

New insights on the rare blind blister beetle genus Meloetyphlus (Coleoptera: Meloidae): occurrence in Colombia, SEM larval description, and molecular phylogenetic placement

“…Our observation in Colombia agrees with the Brazilian ones. Friedl et al (2019) summarized the information from the literature on the bee hosts of Tetraonycini and recorded as hosts of Meloetyphlus 2 species of Eufriesea from Brazil, 1 species of Exaerete Hoffmannsegg, 1817, from Brazil, 6 species of Eulaema , including E. nigrita (see Fig. 2E and F from Palmira), from Ecuador and Brazil; and 2 undetermined meloid species, possibly referable to Meloetyphlus , which were associated with 2 additional Eulaema from Brazil and Colombia.…”

“…Larvae of Tetraolytta and Opiomeloe are still unknown. Costa et al (1988) illustrated and described with few details the triungulin of M. fuscatus , while that of a tetraonycine species, suspected to belong to this species, was photographed by Friedl et al (2019). The present description, based on triungulins obtained from newly emerged E. nigrita bees from cells infested by M. fuscatus , is the first certain host–meloid association and represents the most detailed study of this highly derived beetle species and comparison of its characteristics with those of the genus Tetraonyx .…”

“…At the same time, larval stages, which can be found attached to their bee hosts, are hardly recognizable and, before the present article, no detailed description of the triungulin or a comparison with other tetraonycine larvae was provided to support identification. Indeed, first-instar larvae of Tetraonycini are still poorly known, being studied only for 3 of about 100 species of the genus Tetraonyx: T. quadrimaculatus (with only a few diagnostic character states reported in the key and illustrated by Böving and Creighead 1931), T. fulvus LeConte, fuscatus, while that of a tetraonycine species, suspected to belong to this species, was photographed by Friedl al. (2019).…”

“…1). It has been recorded from localities in Brazil (e.g., Borgmeier 1937, Garófalo et al 2011, Friedel et al 2019), Ecuador (Dodson 1966, Cameron and Ramírez 2001), Trinidad (Bennett 1965), Costa Rica (Selander 1965, Kaszab 1966, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/43674210), and Honduras (Rosa et al 2017).…”

“…As stated above, the adults are blind, do not feed and have no functional wings (Selander 1965). These specializations allow this species to adapt to life within the host nest (Selander 1985, Garófalo et al 2011): it is, in fact, the only known blister beetle whose larvae parasitize nests of orchid bees of the genera Eulaema Lepeletier, 1841, Eufriesea Cockerell, 1908, and Exaerete Hoffmannsegg, 1817 (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossini) (Pinto and Bologna 1999, Garófalo et al 2011, Rocha-Filho and Garofalo 2015, Friedel et al 2019). Interestingly, adults of this species have been found frequently in the nests of the carpenter bee Xylocopa frontalis G.A.…”