Niitkib Robber Bee

Lestrimelitta est un genre d'abeilles sans dard. Elles font partie des espèces d'abeilles à miel sans dard à être élevées par l'homme. Les abeilles sans dard du genre Lestrimelitta produisent des cellules royales contrairement au genre Trigona, genre proche également sans dard.

Lestrimelitta is a genus of stingless bees found in the Neotropics, from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina, with about 20 known species. They are small, shining black species from 4 to 7 mm in length, with rounded heads and reduced pollen baskets. Unlike most eusocial bees, they do not gather their own pollen and nectar from flowers, thus are not pollinators, but instead they invade the colonies of other stingless bee species and rob their pollen and honey stores (a phenomenon called "cleptobiosis").

Lestrimelitta es un género de himenópteros apócritos de la familia Apidae. Es considerado el único en la tribu Lestrimelittini, según otras clasificaciones pertenece a la tribu Meliponini. Contiene unas 10 especies descritas.