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Ground Cuckooshrike (Coracina maxima), Santa Teresa Rd, Alice Springs NT ยฉ Dorothy Latimer

Cuckoo… cuckoo…

Author Koh Lin โ—ฆ 

Growing up, I often associated cuckoos with birds that eject the eggs or juveniles out of the nest, to be replaced by the eggs of the Channel-billed Cuckoo. Now I know there are other creatures that are known as cuckoos, they are tiny in comparison, but their behaviour is much the same…

Cuckoos come in a variety of forms and sizes, from the Channel-billed Cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae), the Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae), to our smaller creatures such as the Neon Cuckoo Bee (also known as the Neon Cloak-and-dagger Bee – Thyreus nitidulus) and Chrysididae Cuckoo Wasp, Stilbum cyanurum (Large Cuckoo Wasp).

Some of the cuckoos of the insect world belong to the most colourful of the families in the order Hymenoptera, in the genus Chrysididae (a large cosmopolitan group with over 3,000 described species), and are commonly known as the Cuckoo Wasps, Emerald Wasps and Jewel Wasps. Typically associated with solitary bee and wasp species, the term โ€œcuckoo waspโ€ refers to the parasitic lifestyle, with many species exhibiting behaviour in the host nests similar to that of cuckoos in the nests of their bird hosts.

Channel-billed Cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae), Alice Springs NT ยฉ Dorothy Latimer
Channel-billed Cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae), Alice Springs NT ยฉ Dorothy Latimer
Pallid Cuckoo (Cacomantis pallidus), Swan WA ยฉ Jean and Fred Hort
Pallid Cuckoo (Cacomantis pallidus), Swan WA ยฉ Jean and Fred Hort
Ground Cuckooshrike (Coracina maxima), Santa Teresa Rd, Alice Springs NT ยฉ Dorothy Latimer
Ground Cuckooshrike (Coracina maxima), Santa Teresa Rd, Alice Springs NT ยฉ Dorothy Latimer
Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae)
Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae) ยฉ Dorothy Latimer
Chrysididae (Cuckoo Wasp), Ballandean QLD ยฉ Marc Newman
Chrysididae (Cuckoo Wasp), Ballandean QLD ยฉ Marc Newman
Waroona Cuckoo Bee (Thyreus waroonensis) ยฉ Gary Taylor
Waroona Cuckoo Bee (Thyreus waroonensis) ยฉ Gary Taylor
Cuckoo Wasp (Chrysididae) ยฉ Gary Taylor
Cuckoo Wasp (Chrysididae) ยฉ Gary Taylor
Large Cuckoo Wasp (Stilbum cyanurum), Ballandean QLD ยฉ Marc Newman
Large Cuckoo Wasp (Stilbum cyanurum), Ballandean QLD ยฉ Marc Newman
Neon Cloak-and-dagger Bee (Thyreus nitidulus), Wandella NSW ยฉ Deb Taylor
Neon Cloak-and-dagger Bee (Thyreus nitidulus) – belonging to a group of bees known as Cuckoo Bees, Wandella NSW ยฉ Deb Taylor

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