![]() 2 The cuckoo bee injects the soon-to-be-defeated queen with her stinger, filling her with venom enough to kill her. Cuckoo bee females have thicker armour, and an even longer stinger. 2 She engages the queen of the colony in a fight to the death and the odds to win are certainly not equal. 1,2,15 By invading the colony before the second batch of workers have emerged, she has a good chance at success. Timing is also essential striking too late will mean that a colony is too large and strong to let any intruder pass. ![]() Image source: Entomology Today (Photographer: Stephen Falk). 11īombus vestalis, a cuckoo bee, has no pollen baskets on its hind legs and morphologically resembles ‘true’ bumblebee species such as the buff- and white-tailed bumblebee. 9, 10 In one study, toads that learned to avoid bumblebee prey also avoided the bumblebee-mimicking robber-fly. Some non-stinging insects cheat and have similar colouration to bluff to predators that they can also do them harm ( Batesian mimicry). This is shared by many stinging insects ( Müllerian mimicry) as it means predators don’t have to learn many different warning signals. Even better is to be avoided completely, which is why many bees have the classic black and yellow warning colouring signalling to predators that they are not worth the trouble. With predators left, right and centre, it pays to be able to defend yourself and your colony. 8 Watch here to see a clever bee-eater in action. In fact, birds like the specialist bee-eaters rub or hit the abdomen of the bee along a branch or hard surface, causing the bee to release its venom or lose its sting completely. Image source: Birds of Russia (Photographer: Vladimir Ezhov)īirds can be a little craftier when it comes to eating bumblebees, often removing the stinger of a bumblebee before getting stuck in. 7īee-eater ready to snack on a bumblebee. 6 Although I am not really sure how they can cope with a colony of angry bees, I imagine their thick skin and nocturnal habits give them a serious advantage. 4īadgers target the bumblebee colonies, eating almost everything in sight from the small amounts of honey to grubs, their claws making easy work of digging up and ripping apart a bumblebee comb. 3 You would think very few creatures would be reckless enough to choose a bumblebee for their lunch, however, animals such as badgers, shrews, birds, hornets, dragonflies and some large spiders are all known to predate on bumblebees. While the sting of a bumblebee usually causes humans minor injuries, it can be much more serious for smaller predators, sometimes even killing them. However, it takes a lot to anger these gentle giants of the Simply put, bumblebees only sting when their life or theirĬolony is at risk. Sting, and instead use a small pore on their abdomen to lay eggs. Modified from a piece of egg-laying apparatus called an ovipositor. Just like other bees and wasps, the bumblebee’s stinger is
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |