biology

Neolarra

Neolarra is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Neolarra rather than just read about it. In short: Neolarra is a genus of cuckoo bees in the family Apidae. There are about 16 described species in Neolarra, all from North America.

Key takeaways

Neolarra belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Neolarra to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Neolarra from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Neolarra is a genus of cuckoo bees in the family Apidae. There are about 16 described species in Neolarra, all from North America. These bees are smaller than a grain of rice and are kleptoparasites of Perdita bees.

Description Smaller than a grain of rice, these bees lay eggs in the nests of Perdita bees; the Neolarra egg hatches and the larva eats the egg and food store (of pollen) intended for a Perdita larva. It enters while the host bee is gone to avoid detection. It is likely that, in order to hide them from the returning Perdita bee, the eggs are inserted into the walls of brood cells (underground chambers). In order to overpower and kill the young Perdita egg or larva the Neolarra larva develops and uses a hard, sickle-shaped tooth.

Taxonomy Neolarra was first described in 1890 by Ashmead, as a kind of wasp instead of a bee. This was corrected by Baker in 1896. The genus Phileremulus, created in 1895 when Neolarra was still considered to be a genus of wasp, was revised to be a subgenus of Neolarra by Charles Michener in 1939.

Species These 16 species belong to the genus Neolarra:

Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Neolarra

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Neolarra claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Neolarra before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Neolarra ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Neolarra

In research: Neolarra appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Neolarra in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Neolarra is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bee genera, Brood parasites, Nomadinae, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Neolarra outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Neolarra in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Neolarra means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Neolarra out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Neolarra in simple terms?

Neolarra is a genus of cuckoo bees in the family Apidae. There are about 16 described species in Neolarra, all from North America.

Why does Neolarra matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Neolarra?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Neolarra.