Photo: Dick Belgers / CC BY 3.0

Coelioxys inermis

Shiny-vented Sharp-tail Bee

A cleptoparasitic (cuckoo) bee that lays its eggs in the nests of leafcutter bees, particularly Megachile species. It has a distinctive sharply pointed abdomen (female) with the ventral surface shagreened rather than polished. The body is black with sparse white hair bands on the abdomen and a moderately punctate scutum. It has no pollen-collecting apparatus. In Switzerland it is recorded from scattered locations including Schaffhausen, Lake Neuchâtel area, and the Alps south to Ticino. Swiss Red List: Least Concern (LC).