Talk:Psithyrus
Add topic | This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Comments on how the article could be improved moving forward:
Only a few species within the subgenus were listed, so more could be added to make a more complete article. Additionally, more citations could be added to give greater credibility to the behavior biology section of the article, which talks about how the females of the species exploits the nests of other Bombus sp.
There are some facts that are lacking citations/references—the ones dealing with the loss of abilities, the loss of the worker case, and how the females of the species within this subgenus parasitize the nests of other Bombus sp.
Some interesting and authoritative sources to look at would be discoverlife.org or bugguide.net
Mating?
[edit]If they're brood parasites, who do they mate with? The article says they "produce only male and female reproductives." I'm not sure what "reproductives" means here, but if there are males of the species for the female to mate with, where do they come from? This is a big unanswered question that should be addressed here. MiguelMunoz (talk) 13:09, 14 August 2026 (UTC)
- Male Psithyrus mate with female Psithyrus, and the females then lay eggs in other bumblebee nests. It's not complicated. The use of the term "reproductives" is to contrast them with other bumblebees, which produce numerous non-reproductive females. ALL female Psithyrus are reproductives. Dyanega (talk) 15:48, 14 August 2026 (UTC)