| Aglae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| InPeru | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Apidae |
| Tribe: | Euglossini |
| Genus: | Aglae Lepeletier & Serville, 1825 |
| Species: | A. caerulea |
| Binomial name | |
| Aglae caerulea Lepeletier & Serville, 1825 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Aglae is agenus ofeuglossinebees, with the only described speciesAglae caerulea. Like allorchid bees, it is restricted to theNeotropics. They are metallic blue. This species, like the genusExaerete, is a nest parasite on free-living Euglossini.A. caerulea lays its eggs in the nests ofEulaema nigrita, and possibly otherEulaema species.
Among other substances, males of this species are attracted bymethyl cinnamate baits.[1]
TheAncient Greek,Αγλαιη means "beauty". The original 1825 publication describing the species spelled the epithet as "cœrulea" (for "blue"), which nearly all subsequent authors misspelled ascaerulea rather thancoerulea, but under Article 33.3.1 of theICZN, thecaerulea spelling must be maintained.[note 1]
A. caerulea was thought to occur only in theAmazon basin, in the rainforests of northernBolivia, westernColombia,Ecuador,French Guiana,Guyana,Peru,Venezuela,Suriname, andPanama. However, the record from Panama is doubtful. Recent studies have extended the range by about 2,400 km southwards, when specimens were found in the National ParkChapada dos Guimarães,Mato Grosso,Brazil.[2]