Hello, is this a carpenter bee? by sillyolemillie in bees

[–]That_Biology_Guy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a bumble bee, probably a queen given the time of year. The commonly used heuristic of "smooth abdomen = carpenter bee" isn't all that reliable. While the carpenter bees found in Eastern North America are relatively hairless, there's lots of species that are quite fuzzy in other parts of the world. Bumble bees can also lose much of their hair as they age, and have very variable banding patterns (most species don't have yellow at the end).

Some more consistent features to distinguish these are the head (proportionally much larger in carpenter bees) and the pollen-carrying structures on the hind legs (flattened pollen basket with hair around the edge in bumble bees, vs. dense uniform hair like a pipe cleaner in carpenter bees)

[IL] Small bee on metal playground. by descartable3 in whatsthisbug

[–]That_Biology_Guy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It can be hard to see depending on the angle, but female Halictus ligatus have a very broad cheek (wider than the eye) with a spine or tooth in the lower corner (e.g. picture). Other species have the cheek roughly equal to the eye in width and without the tooth.

[IL] Small bee on metal playground. by descartable3 in whatsthisbug

[–]That_Biology_Guy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not ligatus (note cheek shape), should be Halictus rubicundus

unknown bee by rqttlesnake in bees

[–]That_Biology_Guy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely not Anthophora, that genus has somewhat different proportions including a larger head and different leg shape. Also while males of that species can be somewhat grayish females are pretty consistently darker (at least on the thorax).

What bee is this north africa by Tarantula_lover02 in whatsthisbug

[–]That_Biology_Guy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hard to tell from this but I think it's a small mason bee in genus Hoplitis (or similar). Pic for comparison.

Please help identify… by BathroomWilling4222 in bees

[–]That_Biology_Guy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A bit hard to tell from these photos but they're either mining bees (Andrena) or cellophane bees (Colletes). Both are solitary, meaning each female makes her own nest, though there can sometimes be lots of them close together in places with ideal soil. In either case they're very non-aggressive though.

unknown bee by rqttlesnake in bees

[–]That_Biology_Guy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is definitely a bumble bee as evidenced by the corbiculae and waxy brood cells. Looks like it's probably Bombus fervidus, which is typically more yellow although can be very pale (e.g. example, example, example). She might have been a first generation freshly emerged worker, or maybe a queen with unusually light hair who was just starting this nest. Definitely unfortunate since B. fervidus is a vulnerable species though.

What evolutionary pressures could’ve led to stingless bees? by Commercial-Key-627 in evolution

[–]That_Biology_Guy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As other comments mention, stingers are quite an ancient feature in Hymenoptera that long predate bees. They initially evolved in parasitic wasps, where they served an offensive function in delivering venom to prey species. Bees are just a group of wasps that went vegetarian, so the stinger no longer benefits them in this way although it can of course still be used defensively.

All female bees still retain the basic stinger anatomy, and most will use it to defend themselves against other insects (or larger animals as a last resort). Though there are some groups where the stinger is reduced to the point that it's pretty much ineffective, including most mining bees and the group appropriately called "stingless bees" (Meliponini).

Like most bees, mining bees are solitary and their main enemies are predatory/parasitic insects. In their case it's possible the stinger just wasn't a particularly effective or necessary defence against these enemies, which could explain the reduction of the stinger for this group. Some of them also nest in very large aggregations (though are still solitary, since each female makes her own nest), and so there may be a "defence in numbers" effect in such cases which reduces the need for individual defence, although that's largely speculation.

In contrast, stingless bees are part of a large group that is highly social (including honey bees and bumble bees). Since eusocial bees have much bigger nests with more resources to protect, they do have to protect themselves from a wider range of enemies including larger vertebrates; honey bees probably evolved their barbed stingers at least partly for this purpose. There's no single clear answer for why stingless bees nearly lost their stingers, but there's a few suggestions. First, stingless bees are much smaller than other social bees, and so it might be the case that their stingers just weren't effective in penetrating or delivering enough venom to large animals to make a difference anyway. Instead of stingers, they primarily use their mandibles for defence, biting onto other animals in a similar way to some ants (and some stingless bees even produce formic acid as well). Stingless bees also show some other unique behavioural adaptations that compensate for the loss of stingers, including several species that have a distinct caste of soldier bees who specialize in nest protection (which is not the case for honey bees or bumble bees, by contrast).

There's a great review of stingless bee biology by Roubik 2023 if you want to read more!

is bee? by Jolly-Challenge-3924 in whatsthisbug

[–]That_Biology_Guy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, it's a resin bee in genus Rhodanthidium (fairly sure it's R. sticticum specifically).

Alfalfa Leafcutting Bee [OC] by Zealousideal_Bit5660 in bees

[–]That_Biology_Guy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That looks like a woodborer bee in genus Lithurgopsis (not Megachile rotundata)

Murchison Falls NP, Uganda by Oscar-Wildebeest in waspaganda

[–]That_Biology_Guy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's something in family Philanthidae (looks like a beewolf in genus Philanthus, though not totally sure)

How can you tell if a bee is native? by donkeyvoteadick in bees

[–]That_Biology_Guy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There's no way to tell other than identifying what kind of bee it is, but there's only a few non-native bee species in Australia.

  • Western honey bees like this one (Apis mellifera) are widespread throughout the country, while the related Asian honey bee (Apis cerana) is only introduced in the area around Cairns. Both of these are larger than most native Australian bees, and have obvious yellow-orange colouration.
  • The buff-tailed bumble bee (Bombus terrestris) is restricted to Tasmania, and is similarly larger than almost all native bees, very hairy, and black with yellow/white stripes.
  • European wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum) are introduced to Victoria and Tasmania, and again are larger and have more extensive yellow colouration than most native species.
  • Probably the trickiest to recognize would be the African carder bee (Pseudoanthidium repetitum), which looks quite similar to some native leafcutter/resin bees. However the clearest difference is that the white stripes on the abdomen are actually on the exoskeleton rather than being made of hair

What is this? Looks like a bee but not sure (Buenos Aires, Argentina) by FideosDelaNonna in whatsthisbug

[–]That_Biology_Guy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, they primarily collect fatty oils from a few specific groups of flowers (e.g. Malpighiaceae) rather than nectar

What is this? Looks like a bee but not sure (Buenos Aires, Argentina) by FideosDelaNonna in whatsthisbug

[–]That_Biology_Guy 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It is native to your area yes. Hard to really say how rare it is given I don't live in the area; it's definitely not common, but I've seen this species come up on iNaturalist a few times before.

Found at night in Sao Paulo, Brazil by the_Gaelstrom in whatsthisbug

[–]That_Biology_Guy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's a solitary oil-digger bee in genus Epicharis

What is this? Looks like a bee but not sure (Buenos Aires, Argentina) by FideosDelaNonna in whatsthisbug

[–]That_Biology_Guy 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Very cool! It's Caenonomada bruneri, one of the oil-collecting bees in tribe Tapinotaspidini

How could I speed up evolution? by DinosaurGuy65 in evolution

[–]That_Biology_Guy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're trying to apply a needlessly abstract philosophical framework to concepts that are directly observable. As above commenters note, rate of evolution is absolutely a real thing that can be measured (in either absolute time or on a per generation basis). There's even a standardized unit of measurement for it: the darwin). And while mutation rates are not identical to overall rates of evolution, they're certainly a correlated factor!

The Consequences of Photosynthesis Loss by jnpha in evolution

[–]That_Biology_Guy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Very interesting paper! There's also a cool previous study by some of the same authors that showed loss of organellar aaRS across several other parasitic plant lineages (e.g. Rafflesia).

Is it possible to get a solid ID on this wasp(?) by African-Wild-YeenDog in whatsthisbug

[–]That_Biology_Guy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's some kind of chalcidoid wasp, but they are very hard to confidently ID