{{Short description|Genus of bees}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Neolarra pruinosa Female.jpg | image_caption = ''Neolarra pruinosa'' female | taxon = Neolarra | authority = Ashmead, 1890 | display_parents = 3 }}
'''''Neolarra''''' is a genus of cuckoo bees in the family Apidae. There are about 16 described species in ''Neolarra'', all from North America.<ref name=itis/><ref name=catlife/><ref name=gbif/><ref name=bugref/> These bees are smaller than a grain of rice and are kleptoparasites of ''Perdita'' bees.
==Description== Smaller than a grain of rice, these bees lay eggs in the nests of ''Perdita'' bees; the ''Neolarra'' egg hatches and the larva eats the egg and food store (of pollen<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last1=Best |first1=Lincoln |last2=Melathopoulos |first2=Andony |date=December 2021 |title=Rare rabbitbrush fairy cuckoo bee discovered in Oregon |url=https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/pollinators/rare-rabbitbrush-fairy-cuckoo-bee-discovered-oregon |work=Oregon State University Extension Service}}</ref>) intended for a ''Perdita'' larva. It enters while the host bee is gone to avoid detection.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Emry |first1=Paige |title=Our Native Bees |page=76}}</ref>
It is likely that, in order to hide them from the returning ''Perdita'' bee, the eggs are inserted into the walls of brood cells (underground chambers).<ref name=":1" /> In order to overpowers and kill the young ''Perdita'' egg or larva the ''Neolarra'' larva develops and uses a hard, sickle-shaped tooth.<ref name=":1" />
== Taxonomy == ''Neolarra'' was first described in 1890 by Ashmead, as a kind of wasp instead of a bee.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Michener |first=Charles D. |date=1939 |title=A Revision of the Genus Neolarra (Hymenoptera: Nomadidae) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25077445 |journal=Transactions of the American Entomological Society |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=347–362 |jstor=25077445 |issn=0002-8320}}</ref> This was corrected by Baker in 1896.<ref name=":0" /> The genus ''Phileremulus'', created in 1895 when ''Neolarra'' was still considered to be a genus of wasp, was revised to be a subgenus of ''Neolarra'' by Charles Michener in 1939.<ref name=":0" />
==Species== These 16 species belong to the genus ''Neolarra'': {{Div col|colwidth=29em}} * ''Neolarra alba'' <small>Cockerell, 1916</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra alexanderi'' <small>Griswold & Parker, 1999</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra batrae'' <small>Shanks, 1978</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra californica'' <small>Michener, 1939</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g b</sup></span> * ''Neolarra clavigera'' <small>Shanks, 1978</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra cockerelli'' <small>(Crawford, 1916)</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra hurdi'' <small>Shanks, 1978</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra linsleyi'' <small>Michener, 1939</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra orbiculata'' <small>Shanks, 1978</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra penicula'' <small>Shanks, 1978</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra pruinosa'' <small>Ashmead, 1890</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra rozeni'' <small>Shanks, 1978</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra ute'' <small>Griswold & Parker, 1999</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra vandykei'' <small>Michener, 1939</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g</sup></span> * ''Neolarra verbesinae'' <small>(Cockerell, 1895)</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g b</sup></span> * ''Neolarra vigilans'' <small>(Cockerell, 1895)</small><span style="color:gray"><sup> i c g b</sup></span> {{Div col end}} <small>Data sources: i = ITIS,<ref name=itis/> c = Catalogue of Life,<ref name=catlife/> g = GBIF,<ref name=gbif/> b = Bugguide.net<ref name=bugref/></small>
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=itis> {{Cite web| title=''Neolarra'' Report | url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=634229 | website=Integrated Taxonomic Information System | access-date=2018-04-22 }}</ref> <ref name=catlife>{{Cite web | title=Browse ''Neolarra'' | url=http://www.catalogueoflife.org/col/browse/tree/id/d44fbebc0df27906dd199d70ae02d797 | website=Catalogue of Life | access-date=2018-04-22 | archive-date=2018-07-17 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717184112/http://www.catalogueoflife.org/col/browse/tree/id/d44fbebc0df27906dd199d70ae02d797 | url-status=dead }}</ref> <ref name=gbif> {{Cite web| title=''Neolarra'' | url=https://www.gbif.org/species/1340842 | website=GBIF | access-date=2018-04-22 }}</ref> <ref name=bugref> {{Cite web| title=''Neolarra'' Genus Information | url=https://bugguide.net/node/view/181347 | website=BugGuide.net | access-date=2018-04-22 }}</ref> }}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * {{Cite web | access-date = 2019-07-02 | title = Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) | date = 2019 | last1 = Ascher | first1 = J.S. | last2 = Pickering | first2 = J. | url = http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Apoidea }} {{refend}}
==External links== {{refbegin}} * {{Commons category-inline|Neolarra}} {{refend}}
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Category:Nomadinae Category:Bee genera Category:Brood parasites Category:Articles created by Qbugbot
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