Adults of Cissites cephalotes, a cleptoparasitic beetle of Japanese carpenter bee (Xylocopa appendiculata circumvolans), emerge from the host nests in late May to mid June in the Kinki District after nearly one year in the pseudopupal and pupal stages. Soon after the emergence, the male beetle takes a peculiar pose (calling pose), in which it places the tip of its mandible on the bark, stands on the fore and mid legs, stretches the abdomen and lifts its hind legs in the air, probably for pheromone release. The female beetle leaves the host nest soon after the emergence and seeks the calling male. It seems rather easy for females to reach the vicinity of the male, but not easy to find the exact place, particularly when the male is no longer in the calling pose. After copulation, the female beetle tries to enter the bee's nest for oviposition and encounters severe resistance by the carpenter bee. If oviposition is successful the female beetle guards the egg mass to keep it from being scraped out by the bee. The male beetle also enters the bee's nest, perhaps for resting, and comes out every morning to call new females. The first instars of Cissites cephalotes disperse by fastening onto hairs of the carpenter bee with their mandibles, and wait for nesting carpenter bees on flowers.
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