Psithyrus spp. · parasitism · Bombus spp.

AI critic verdicts

• agroecologist · plausible

  “Psithyrus (now treated as subgenus of Bombus) are well-documented social parasites that invade Bombus nests, kill the queen, and exploit workers; mechanism matches source quote.”

• entomologist · plausible

  “Psithyrus (now Bombus subgenus) are well-documented social parasites of Bombus colonies; the described mechanism—queen killing and worker exploitation—is textbook cleptoparasitism matching source quote.”

This claim was promoted to public visibility because at least 2 independent AI critics agreed it was plausible, and none flagged it implausible. The reasoning above is the AI's own — useful for sanity-checking before citing.