Beewolves (genus ''Philanthus''), also known as bee-hunters or bee-killer wasps, are solitary,

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

s, most of which prey on

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

s, hence their common name. The adult females dig tunnels in the ground for nesting, while the territorial males mark twigs and other objects with

pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...

s to claim the territory from competing males. As with all other

sphecoid The Spheciformes is a paraphyletic assemblage of insect families which collectively comprise the "sphecoid wasps". Larvae are carnivorous. These are all the members of the superfamily Apoidea The superfamily Apoidea is a major group within t ...

wasps, the larvae are

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

, forcing the inseminated females to hunt for other invertebrates (in this case bees), on which she lays her

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

, supplying the larvae with prey when they emerge. The adults consume nectar from flowers. The prevalent European species, '' P. triangulum,'' specializes in preying upon honey bees, thus making it a minor pest for

beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...

s. Other ''Philanthus'' may specialize in other bee species or they may be generalists which prey upon a wide variety of bees such as the American bumblebee, ''

Bombus pensylvanicus ''Bombus pensylvanicus'', the American bumblebee, is a threatened species of bumblebee native to North America. It occurs in eastern Canada, throughout much of the Eastern United States, and much of Mexico.Hatfield, R., et al. 2015''Bombus pensyl ...

'', or other

hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

ns, including conspecifics. They are notable for stinging their prey in a membranous location on the

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Th ...

surface, where the

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

quickly paralyzes major voluntary muscles, yet does not kill the prey. The prey may attempt to sting in return, but it is always grabbed in such a way that only well-armored portions of the beewolf's body are presented. The beewolf carries its prey back to a tunnel, but usually only stores it temporarily, until it is later used to provision a cell burrow, where an egg is laid. Beewolf with honey bee

The tunnel of ''Philanthus triangulum'' can be as much as 1 m long. The first part of the tunnel slopes downward at an angle of 30°, after which it levels out. Up to 34 lateral tunnels, each ending in a brood chamber, branch off from the main tunnel. Each brood chamber is stocked with one to six honeybees.

Species

The genus ''Philanthus'' contains about 135 species, including:''Philanthus''.
Fauna Europaea.

Gallery

Brutal Attack (5622477672).jpg, ''Philanthus'' sp. capturing prey bee wolf.jpg,

European beewolf The European beewolf (''Philanthus triangulum''), also known as the bee-killer wasp or the bee-eating philanthus (from the now obsolete synonym ''Philanthus apivorus''), is a solitary wasp that lives in the Western Palearctic and Afrotropics. Alt ...

carrying a honeybee to its tunnel Philanthus gibbosus, female,-face 2012-07-31-20.20.35-ZS-PMax.jpg, ''

Philanthus gibbosus ''Philanthus gibbosus'', which is commonly referred to as a beewolf due to its predation practices, is a species of bee-hunting wasp and is the most common and widespread member of the genus in North America. ''P. gibbosus'' is of the order Hymen ...

'' P. gibbosus57306787w.jpg, ''

References

External links

Semiochemicals of Genus ''Philanthus''.
Pherobase.
''Philanthus''.
BugGuide.net {{Taxonbar, from=Q141958 Crabronidae Apoidea genera Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius

Species

Gallery

See also

References

External links