The apid cuckoo bees of the Cape Verde Islands (Republic of Cape Verde) are reviewed and five species recognized, representing two genera. The ammobatine genus Chiasmognathus Engel (Nomadinae: Ammobatini), a specialized lineage of cleptoparasites of nomioidine bees is recorded for the first time.
Chiasmognathus batelkai sp. n. is distinguished from mainland African and Asian species. The genus Thyreus Panzer (Apinae: Melectini) is represented by four species Thyreus denolii sp. n., I batelkai sp. n., I schwarzi sp. n., and I aistleitneri sp. n.
Previous records of Thyreus scutellaris (Fabricius) from the islands were based on misidentifications.