Want your bees with more bite ? As it turn out , Costa Rica is home to a more al dente species : thevulture bee . Far from the hazy vegetarians we have fare to know and love , these insects are carnivorous and have the dentition and – as it turns out – guts to go with it .
A paper published in the journalmBiotook a deep diva into these beasties ' intestine . Their investigations unwrap that in true vulture by name , vulture by nature expressive style , these insect share gut microbiome portion with the carrion - consuming bird . The adaptation let out how it is that these bees have developed such a taste sensation andtolerance for rotting carcasses .
The study ( humorously title “ Why did the bee eat the wimp ? Symbiont Gain , Loss , and Retention in the Vulture Bee Microbiome ” ) collected 159 bee that ate either pollen , carrion , or a bit of both , amounting to 17 specie from nine genus . They were mostly collected from La Selva and Las Cruces field of honor place in Costa Rica using carrion and Gallus gallus as bait .
observe the meat eaters pot to their rancid offerings , the investigator made a odd observation .
“ They had little wimp baskets , ” articulate UCR bug-hunter Quinn McFrederick in astatement – the vulture bee hive away meat in pockets , much like how pollen - eating bee store their foraging finds .
Vulture bee are singular as they are thought to be “ the only bee in the world that have evolved to apply food source not produced by plant , ” say UC Riverside entomologist Doug Yanega , who says it make “ a pretty remarkable modification in dietetical habits . ”
It was look , then , that their intestine microbiomes might stand out compared to those of honeybees , bumblebee , and stingless bees whose tummies all contain the same five Congress of Racial Equality bug . This has been the fashion for bees for around 80 million years of phylogenesis . So , do our vulture bees charge the trend ?
compare the bowel microbiomes of pollen - eater , marrow - eater , and the omnivorous , the study authors get wind that there were significant differences between the different diets .
“ The vulture bee microbiome is enriched in acid - loving bacteria , which are novel bacteria that their relatives do n’t have , ” McFrederick said . “ These bacteria are similar to I found in real vultures , as well as hyenas and other carrion - feeder , presumably to help protect them from pathogens that show up on carrion . ”
And that was n’t the only surprising remainder .
“ Even though they ca n’t sting , they ’re not all defenseless , and many species are thoroughly unpleasant , ” Yanega said . “ They place from species that are truly innocuous to many that bite , to a few that produce blister - make secretion in their jaws , cause the skin to catch fire in painful sores . ”
Despite their savory diet and distasteful behavior , the beloved of vulture bee is reportedly still edible and actually sweet-scented . But ifBear Grylls turning into Benedict Cumberbatchtaught us anything , it ’s that sometimes the terms is too high for a bit of love .
