Abstract
Females of three European species of cuckoo bumble bees (P. bohemicus, P. vestalis, andP. campestris) were introduced into free-foraging laboratory colonies of theirBombus hosts (B. locorum, B. Terrestris andB. pascuorum, respectively). The colony development of one successfully parasitized colony of each bumble bee species was studied.Psithyrus females cohabited with host queens and workers, but monopolized brood development through oophagy, larval ejection and the attempted dominance of host bees. SomePsithyrus brood also was destroyed, and host bees in all three colonies were successful in rearing reproductive offspring. Prolonged social contact betweenPsithyrus females and their hosts, and the possibility of host reproduction in parasitized colonies, suggest that there is considerable opportunity for coevolutionary complexity inBombus-Psithyrus relationships.
Published Version
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