Sphecodes albilabris

• Scientific name: Sphecodes albilabris
• Common name: great blood bee
• Dimension: 11-14 mm
• Habitat: sand banks, dry meadows, river banks; from the plains to the mountains
• Behavior: cuckoo bees
• Nest: nests of other parasitic bees
• Parasitized species: fairly flexible, it parasitizes species of the Halictus, Lasioglossum and Colletes genera 
• Red list of bees in Switzerland: not endangered

Interesting Facts:

Unlike other cuckoo bees, species of the Sphecodes genus don't just wait for the host bees to leave the nest to collect pollen, but they also force their way in, sometimes even killing them. When the host species are eusocial, the main victims of these intrusions are often the guards of the nest or the workers.