Lousy Dates and Mooching roommates; Not Just For Humans Anymore

Ladies, do you ever pick up a guy and take him home only to realize the next morning how big of a mistake it was, or have you ever paired up with a roommate to find out too late that they'’re a slob that never pays the rent and mooches off you? Well apparently, Bees know this all too well after they have had to deal with a certain kind of beetle.

A recent study showed that groups of parasitic blister beetle larvae will band together to lure in male bees by mimicking female bees in order to get a ride back to the beehive.

After hatching, the worm like larvae will first group together into the rough shape of a bee. The beetles then emit a pheromone similar to that of the female bee. According to Leslie Saul-Gershenz, who worked on the study, the combined pheromones of the larvae are strong enough in signal strength to mimic the female bees. The larvae will then extend the upper part of their body, which has specialized grasping claws, and latch onto the back of a male bee looking for some love from a female who he'll be disappointed to find isn'’t there. With the beetle cargo in toe, the male bee will eventually find and mate with a female bee. Without the bee's knowledge, the larvae will be transferred to the female bee who will then unknowingly give them a free ride back to the beehive. Once inside the beehive, the beetle larvae will settle in, eat the bee's eggs and hard earned food, grow, and mature into adults that will leave to start the whole mooching cycle all over again, all the while getting protection and shelter from the bees while their living in their hive.

Scientists working on the study said that their findings confirmed their early suspicions about the nature of the chemical cues of the beetle larvae. They are currently looking into how the groups of larvae communicate with each other; they suspect that certain larvae will act as leaders in the group.

Source Article: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/09/12/beetle_ani_02.html?category=animals&guid=20060912100030


Posted by JMSieer (12)