http://faerye.net/tag/hymenoptera 2011-08-26T14:38:42+00:00 Felicity Shoulders http://faerye.net/ http://faerye.net/post/cuckoo-bumblebees 2011-08-26T14:38:42+00:00 2011-08-26T14:39:37+00:00 <p>Awesome zoology discovery* of the day: <strong>the cuckoo bumblebee</strong>!</p> <p><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Bumblebee_January_2008-4.jpg/220px-Bumblebee_January_2008-4.jpg" align="left" hspace="10 px"><blockquote>They are a specialized lineage which has lost social behavior, and lost the ability to collect pollen, and are instead cleptoparasitic in the colonies of other bumblebees. Before finding and invading a host colony, a Psithyrus female (there is no caste system in these species) will feed directly from flowers. Once she has infiltrated a host colony, the Psithyrus female will kill or subdue the queen of that colony and forcibly (using pheromones and/or physical attacks) &#8220;enslave&#8221; the workers of that colony to feed her and her developing young.<br /> <em>-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckoo_bumblebee" target="links">Wikipedia</a></em></blockquote></p> <p>Okay, it&#8217;s also sort of sad, because bumblebees are adorable. (Just say it to yourself and try not to smile: &#8216;bumble&#8217;.) But it&#8217;s also weird and wonderful and unexpected. I love this stuff.</p> <p>*For the limited sense of &#8216;discovery&#8217; that means &#8216;I didn&#8217;t know this until I read it on the internet, but the scientific community has known it for more or less ever.&#8217;</p>