Notocyrtus Burmeister, 1835

The genus Notocyrtus was recently revised by Carvalho & Costa (1992, 1993) and has 23 valid species (Costa & Gil-Santana 2001; Gil-Santana & Costa 2001).

Notocyrtus spp. have been recognized as mimetic to meliponine bees. The mimicry is enhanced mainly by the angular inflated pronotum (Haviland 1931; Jackson 1973). Nevertheless, only a single mimetic pair was specifically indicated: Trigona fulviventris Guérin, 1835 as a model of Notocyrtus dorsalis (Gray, 1832) (Jackson 1973). The function of the mimicry, whether aggressive or defensive, is unknown, whereas the feeding habits already observed included sipping nectar or honey-dew from Homoptera colonies (Haviland 1931; Jackson 1973).

Original observations made with two females of Notocyrtus fungosus Stål, 1859 at Nova Friburgo (22º 16’ S; 42º 34’ W, 1090 m. a. s. l.), Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, demonstrated that they were not interested in Meliponini bees, but actively fed on Nematocera Diptera offered to them (Figs. 10–11).

There is no published description of the immature forms of Notocyrtus spp. A last instar of N. fungosus showed that the pronotum only become inflated in adult of this species a few hours after ecdysis (Figs.12–13).