Are you confused about how to classify the beautiful, metallic-colored insect hovering around your garden? This article will explain to you how to differentiate between Cuckoo wasp vs Sweat bee.
Both the Cuckoo wasp and the sweat bee (or metallic bee) display brilliant metallic colors and have very similar anatomies.
It is often hard for even the most experienced insect lover to differentiate between the two.
But if you stick around and observe these bugs closely, there are several things that can help you identify the key differences.
In this article, we will look at some of the points of difference between these two insects.
What Are Cuckoo Wasps?
Cuckoo Wasps are from the Chrysididae family of hymenopterans. More than 3,000 species of these wasps are described.
Cuckoo wasps are kleptoparasitic wasps. To those unanointed with scientific terms, kleptoparasitic means they are parasites by stealing. That’s a fancy way of saying they don’t just eat their prey; they steal from them too!
Cuckoo wasps often lay their eggs inside the nests of other wasps (hopefully when the other female is gone away).
These eggs hatch before the host wasps own do, and they feed off the food that the host wasp has left for her larvae.
Later, when the larvae of the host wasp hatch, they feed on those too. All in all, these wasps are the devil incarnate.
Unfortunately, the devil wears Prada, and so do these bugs. Their beautiful shimmering metallic colors often enchant humans who notice them.
Cuckoo wasps are often found in deserts because the host bees and wasps they like to steal from also live in these areas.
These insects have evolved amazing defense mechanisms to aid their dangerous lifestyle, such as mimicking the smell of their hosts and curling up in a ball with their powerful exoskeleton to protect them.
What Are Sweat Bees?
Sweat bees are part of a family of bees known as Halictidae. There are over 4,500 species of these bees. Many of them can look very different from each other.
Halictidae are abundant in nature, and you can find these bees flitting around gardens and yards all over the world.
They can be metallic colored (most often), but they can also be black or brown. Their sizes and the patterns on their back vary from species to species.
Most of them are between a quarter to three-quarters of an inch in length
Some have green hues, others red, and a few blue and even purple! One thing commonly found in most of them is yellow-colored markings. The males almost always have them.
These bees have short tongues, and they have a curved basal vein near their wings. In most cases, females are larger than males.
One interesting fact about them is that their name, “sweat bees,” comes from the fact they are drawn toward human sweat!
Differences Between The Two
Due to their similar metallic colors, they are often difficult to distinguish from each other. However, there are some interesting differences in their nesting behaviors, the way they move, and their appearances. Let’s look at these points more closely.
Behavior
The first key difference between the two is that cuckoo wasps are not particularly fond of sitting on flowers.
Even though both cuckoo wasps and sweat bees take nectar as their food, you will probably not find the cuckoo wasp around flowers as much as their lookalike bees.
Both wasp and bee have one thing in common, though – they both love honeydew.
Plants that have aphid infestations will often see both these insects buzzing around them in the hopes of getting a taste of the sugary substance.
Movement
Cuckoo wasps, like most other wasps, have a jerky, erratic way of flying. They would dart around in mid-air and alight and fly about in quick movements. Their flights are not very serene.
Sweat bees fly in a more slow and steady fashion, like a traditionalist. They would sit on one flower, suck the nectar, then alight slowly, flying to the next one, and then sit there again for some time.
Their movements in the air and on and around the flower are quite poised.
Preening
Both types of insects preen, but the sweat bees tend to take longer to do so. Both will stop at flowers or branches and go about their business, but male sweat bees also keep a lookout for the ladies during this time. Perhaps trying to show off their beautiful, well-oiled skin?
Pollen collection
Cuckoo wasps may be nectar drinkers, but they are no pollinators. They do not carry around pollen with them after having a drink on a flower.
Female sweat bees carry pollen back to their nests. They have hair brushes on their hind legs called scopae, which help keep the pollen in place as they make their journey.
In this aspect, they are just like any other bee.
Appearance
Not all sweat bees are completely metallic in color. For example, the Agapostemon, a type of metallic green sweat bee, only has the head and thorax in this color.
The abdomen of the males of this species is the more traditional striped yellow and black. Females have completely black abdomens with white hairs on them.
Nesting
As we mentioned earlier, cuckoo wasps are kleptoparasites. Since they simply place their eggs in other wasps’ nests, they don’t need to make a nest of their own.
Sweat bees, on the other hand, make their own nests. They typically either burrow their nests in the ground or else look for small gaps in the barks of trees to make one.
Since the parasitic activity of the cuckoo wasps also involves searching for nests in the barks of trees, you might find both types of insects investigating trees in the same area. But their purposes are very different from each other.
Some species of sweat bees also follow communal nesting, where several females share the same nest. In such cases, you might often find a nest guard near the entrance, looking out for predators and keeping the nest safe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a cuckoo wasp sting you?
No, female cuckoo wasps don’t have a stinger. They have something akin to a stinger known as an ovipositor, which they use to deposit their eggs in the nests of the wasps who act as their hosts.
Despite the fact that their stingers are basically non-functional, some people have claimed that these wasps can actually sting you, especially members of the larger species among them.
Why is it called cuckoo wasp?
Cuckoo wasps are kleptoparasites; they deposit their eggs in the nests of other wasps. See where we are going with this?
This is a trait called brood parasitism that they share with cuckoo birds, who pull the same stunt on unsuspecting songbirds and other smaller species of birds.
Unfortunately, the cuckoo wasps don’t stop there. Their larvae come out and eat the food kept for the host’s larvae and then kill the host larvae also when they come out.
What is a sweat bee actually called?
Sweat bees are so called because of their penchant for being attracted to human sweat. But these bees are actually from the family Halictidae, one of six families belonging to the Hymenoptera order.
Not all halictids are metallic, but many are. These bees are more abundant than most others if you leave out honey bees.
What type of bees are most aggressive?
Many types of bees are aggressive, but the Africanized honey bee is considered one of the worst. It can attack almost anything that dares enter anywhere near its beehive.
Other bees that are considered very aggressive are killer bees and yellow jackets.
Are yellow jackets and sweat bees the same?
No. Even though these two species are widely confused for each other, they are not the same. Yellow jackets are very aggressive, as we mentioned earlier.
They will not leave anyone coming near their nests alone.
Sweat bees are protective of their nests too, but they are nowhere near as aggressive as yellow jackets.
Wrap Up
Both cuckoo wasps and sweat bees are a sight to behold in your garden when they are moving from flower to flower. Both have mesmerizing colors and patterns on their bodies.
But perhaps even more interesting are the ways in which these insects have uniquely evolved to survive and thrive in their environment.
For two species that look so similar, the differences are really remarkable. Thank you for reading!
1 Comment. Leave new
Thanks for this article. My comment is that it would be VERY helpful if the images were labeled to identify which is which. I sometimes find metallic green or blue hymenoptera on a window sill in my garage. But I cannot identify exactly which insect they are. You mention that cuckoos are often found in deserts. But I live in PA, and have assumed what I’m finding are wasps, not bees. They are mostly metallic, without a lot of setae. But many of the images on your page are similarly mostly smooth, including the one that is shown on human skin. Presumably a sweat bee.
So, suggesting that the photos be labeled to help us differentiate the two. I rarely see them out and about, so behavioral differences don’t give away their identity.
Thanks!!