So, are these bees stingerless? --Ediger On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 2:32 PM, Mixon Bill <[email protected]> wrote: > Many of us have enjoyed watching parades of leafcutter ants, such as can be > seen in Bustamante Canyon in northern Mexico. Don't think they get very far > into Texas. Here's a curious things from Jim Conrad's Naturalist Newsletter > about leafcutter bees, which I'd never heard of before. > > You can sign up to get his e-mail weekly newsletter at > www.backyardnature.net/news/natnat.php > > Very rarely anything about caves, but lots of interesting nature stuff, > especially about plants and birds. -- Mixon > > JIM CONRAD’S NATURALIST NEWSLETTER > Issued from the woods not far from Natchez, in > southwestern Mississippi, USA > > April 1, 2012 > > ***** > > LEAFCUTTER BEES > On my last day in the Yucatán I untied the rope that > for so long had been suspending my backpack from the > hut's ceiling, hopefully out of mind for nest-seeking > rats and mice, and took my old backpack in hand. Ashes > from daily campfires had settled all over it so I > stepped outside and gave it a good whack. The > resulting cloud was half ash and half green tatters of > dried, coiled-up leaf-parts stuck together into tube- > like affairs. The leaf tatters surprised me. > > But, I knew what they were, for back in 2006 during my > stay at Genesis Retreat in Ek Balam, Yucatán, the Maya > staff there had showed me the same thing. You can read > about that encounter and see the leafy, tube-like item > at http://www.backyardnature.net/yucatan/jo_olon.htm > > A young Maya woman had told me that the green leaf- > tube was a collection of nests stuck end-to-end, and > that the tube construction itself was known by a > special Maya name, which was pa'ak. The creature > inside the cocoon was Jo'olon. I was told that a bee > made the nest, but I hardly believed it. > > But, now I believe her, for once I had disturbed all > those nests in my roof-suspended backpack, hoards of > bees came complaining, thumping against me and > entangling themselves in my hair but never stinging. > And they were surely the most unusual bees I've ever > seen, for instead of carrying clumps of pollen on > their back-leg "baskets," they transported it on hairs > covering the entire bottoms of their abdomens. With > their golden-yellow abdomen bottoms they look like > dimly lit fireflies. You can the pollen-dusted lower > abdomen on a bee entering its pa'ak cocoon, one > stuffed into one of my backpack's looped belt-tips, in > the hut's dim light, so it's a grainy picture, at > http://www.backyardnature.net/n/12/120401be.jpg > > A rear view of the same bee showing golden pollen > stuffed inside a green pa'ak tube is shown at > http://www.backyardnature.net/n/12/120401bf.jpg > > So, this was my last Yucatán identification challenge > for volunteer IDer Bea in Ontario. Here's what she > came up with: It's a Leafcutter Bee. Many times we've > spoken of leafcutter ants, but this was something new. > > Leafcutter Bees, I find, are members of the genus > MEGACHILE, and despite my ignorance of its existence > that genus is one of the largest among bees, home to > well over 500 species and over 50 subgenera. A list of > insects of Río Lagartos, Yucatán includes eight > species of Megachile leafcutter bees, but I can't say > which species is shown here. > > Of leafcutter bees I read that, exactly as we see with > our pa'ak tubes, Megachile nests typically are > composed of single long columns of cells constructed > from cut-out leaf sections. Females place pollen or a > pollen/nectar mix in each cell as food for the egg > laid there, then the cell is capped so that a wall > separates that cell from the next one. The larva > hatching from the egg eats the food supply and after a > few molts and maybe a period of hibernation spins a > cocoon and pupates, emerging from the nest as an adult > bee. Males are typically smaller than females and > emerge before them. Males die shortly after mating but > females survive for several weeks, building new nests. > > What a fine last discovery to end my Yucatán days! > ---------------------------------------- > The winner of the rat race is still a rat. > ---------------------------------------- > You may "reply" to the address this message > came from, but for long-term use, save: > Personal: [email protected] > AMCS: [email protected] or [email protected] > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] >
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