Honey bees and wasps are often confused, especially when the wasps carry large amounts of pollen. This bee feeds on bees, but smears pollen wherever it goes.

inside: Honey bees are closely related species of honey bees. In fact, they are so close that they are very good pollinators in their own right.

random act of pollination

Who doesn’t like a gripping mystery? As I was looking through my camera’s viewfinder, I realized I was seeing something strange. Here it looked as if there was a lone wasp with an abdominal scopa.

This article was originally published on 2 million flowersJanuary 2020, pp. 47-48.

Scopa are dense areas of hair on the body that help bees collect pollen. The hairy part holds pollen grains in place as the bee flies from place to place. Many beekeepers have seen the abdominal mirror on the underside of mason bees and leafcutters.

However, wasps are carnivorous and do not have hairy bellies that carry pollen. I didn’t know anything and took a few pictures to see more.

A lone wasp nesting on the ground

The creature depicted in this portrait is the bee wolf, a solitary ground nesting wasp that preys on bees. We tend to dismiss the wasp as a pollinator, but the large amount of pollen on this fellow’s abdomen tells a different story. (Yes, I am male.)

Unlike bees, bees do not utilize pollen at all and do not intentionally collect pollen. Instead, the plant (in this case, the goldenrod) takes advantage of the wasp’s anatomy and places an unwanted burden on the wasp.

Some female bees dislike pollen so much that they diligently remove and discard any pollen that sticks to the bees they catch. Once the prey is cleaned, the female stores the ready-to-eat prey for munching on by the larval offspring. Children don’t seem to like vegetables.

Pheromones on brush marks his territory

This particular Beewolf phyllanthus crabuloniformislives in the western states and is particularly fond of sucking nectar. Solidago canadensis Race. After eclosion, the male squeezes mandibular pheromones into two small hairbrushes that protrude from the sides of her face.

Use a damp brush to apply pheromones to grass stems. This is the first step in marking your territory. Once that’s done, he uses a much larger belly brush to smear the pheromones all around to ensure good coverage. Just wiggle his butt until the job is done.

When a male searches for a mate in a flower or stops for a refreshing sip of nectar, some of the pollen adheres to the abdominal brush and is transferred by sheer accident to the female part of another flower. will be Unintentionally, the wasp accidentally pollinates a small flower.

Like a bee? You may also like sawflies.

hunter and hunted

Females of this species close the entrance to the nest every time they leave the nest. Since there are no openings in the top of the earthen mound, it is less likely to be visited by predators or parasites. Each morning after closing the door, the female performs an orientation flight, circling in larger and larger loops near the ground to learn the shape of the land.

P. clavroniformis Females hunt bees by moving from flower to flower and monitoring the entrance holes of ground-dwelling bees. They prefer halicchids (sweat bees), which are small and easily subdued with a simple sting. Once the prey is paralyzed, the wasp tucks it into its thorax, secures it with its metapods, and carries it home.

Each hive requires 12 to 16 bees, depending on size, so hunting takes place throughout the day. If you don’t have enough Haricchid, P. clavroniformis In some cases, small bees and slightly larger bees are selected.nevertheless phyllanthus Species generally hunt different types of bees, but in one European species, triangular grassconfined to bees.

Whether intentional or purely accidental, the random act of pollination keeps our flowering plants healthy and genetically diverse. For our planet to thrive, we need to keep our pollinators healthy and diverse, even if they come unexpectedly in the form of wasps.

Rusty
honeybee suite

about me

My love of bee science is underpinned by a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Crops and a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies. I have written extensively about bees. american b journal and past columns 2 million flowers and bee craft. In recent years, I have taken multiple courses in Meritology and have extensively identified North American honeybees. i Naturalist. My Beekeeping Master Certificate issued by the University of Montana. Click here for details.