Date: February 24th, 2017
Class & Hour: Zoology 8th
Aliases: Ants and Wasps
Body Plan of a Bee:
Life Cycle:
Immature:
- Grub-like; well developed head
- chewing mouthparts
- legless and eyeless
Adults:
- Chewing mouthparts - except in bees where maxillae and labium form a proboscis for collecting nectar.
- Compound eyes well developed.
- Tarsi usually 5-segmented.
- Triangular stigma in front wings.
- Hind wings smaller than front wings, linked together by small hooks (hamuli).
- Narrow junction (wasp waist) between thorax and abdomen - except in sawflies and horntails.
Solitary Bees: Adults construct individual nests and provision them with plant materials (usually nectar or pollen).
Social Bees: True social insects. Communal nests are built in the soil (bumble bees) or in cavities (honey bees). Workers (sterile females) forage for nectar and pollen.
Attacks, Victims, Crime, Hideout, Weapons: Bees are for the most part around humans, but don't make contact unless threatened. They are usually trying to pollinate. The thing it attacks most is the flower for its pollen. Way of protection is to sting people with stinger. But they can only sting once and without the stinger the bee dies. Injury from sting by bee is either a swollen bump and stinger is left in skin. Another way is people can be allergic to them and die. Live anywhere in colonies around the world. Their weapons are their stingers. Don't make a bee feel threatened and you won't be harmed by it.
Evolutionary History: The Hymenoptera is the only order besides the Isoptera (termites) to have evolved complex social systems with division of labor. Herbivory is common among the primitive Hymenoptera. For bees their mandibles are used to gather or manipulate pollen and wax. Only found in bees the maxillae and labium are like a tongue to collect nectar from flowers.
The bee is attacking the flower for its pollen. The pollen is transported through the bees mandibles.
Citation: https://projects.ncsu.edu/cals/course/ent425/library/compendium/hymenoptera.html
Credits:
Created with images by zdenet - "bee dandelion macro" • depaulus - "macro bug nature"