The New International Encyclopædia/Nomada

NOMA′DA (Neo-Lat., from Gk. νομάς, nomas, roaming). A genus of bees typical of the family Nomadidæ, including species which live parasitically in the nests of other bees and are called ‘cuckoo-bees.’ Often there is enough food both for the larvæ of the cell-maker and the larvæ of the cuckoo-bee, and both thrive and issue simultaneously as adults. The larva is smooth, tapering toward each end, and has a small head. The pupa has three conspicuous spines on the upper and posterior edge of the orbit, which seem to aid in locomotion. See Cuckoo-Bee.