Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Are there bee hunting wasps?
Beewolves (genus Philanthus), also known as bee-hunters or bee-killer wasps, are solitary, predatory wasps, most of which prey on bees, hence their common name. The adult females dig tunnels in the ground for nesting, while the territorial males mark twigs and other objects with pheromones to claim the territory from competing males.
The bumblebeewolf ("Philanthus bicinctus") is a species of bee-hunting wasp (or "beewolf") of North America.
Bearing this in mind, and that each of the superfamilies under discussion includes families other than those listed here, families that are in no way hunting wasps, consider the following, consulting the links and references for detailed discussion of the biology:Although it had long been realised that bees were in essence a natural grouping of wasps that fed primarily on nectar and pollen, it took the development of molecular biology to demonstrate the actual grouping of true bees with the following families of definitive hunting wasps.These cockroach wasps are a popular example of a primitive mode of hunting wasp behaviour; they do not build a secure nest for their prey plus its egg, but conceal it in the most convenient crack or burrow, in which respect their behaviour resembles that of some of the Bethylidae.A very large family with varied habits and a wide range of prey species. Crabronid species in some taxa concentrate on flies, others on bees, others on cicadas, but the overwhelming majority build tunnels, whether single or branched, with one or more larvae inside.These are a widely varied family, including the digger wasps and mud daubersThese are generally large wasps that hunt subterranean insects, usually beetle larvae. Commonly they do little to conceal the paralysed prey, but lay the egg on it underground.Another large and varied family. They include the social wasps such as paper wasps and hornets. These are hunting wasps in the sense that they hunt animal food, generally insects, but they do not subtly paralyse them; instead they more or less butcher them and carry the most nutritious portions back to the colony to feed the young progressively. Other Vespidae include the solitary potter wasps, that are classical examples of hunting wasps of the kind that build their nests out of mud. The Masarinae or pollen wasps are the major exception in the family in that they do not hunt at all, but instead feed their larvae pollen and nectar, as many members of the superfamily Apoidea do.
The flowers have a variety of insect pollinators, including honey bees, carpenter bees, sweat bees, plasterer bees, sphecid wasps, vespid wasps, butterflies, moths, beetles, hoverflies, tachinid flies, flesh flies, blow flies, and muscid flies.
"Hunting wasp" is not a biological taxon, but rather describes certain ecological strategies that occur within the Hymenoptera. All hunting wasps are members of the Aculeata, within the Apocrita, but not all Aculeata are hunting wasps. Nor are the hunting wasps a single clade within the Aculeata; they almost certainly have evolved independently several times, sometimes probably several times within the same family. Some superfamilies of the Hymenoptera (e.g. Chrysidoidea) include a few taxa that might fairly be called hunting wasps, but no superfamily includes only hunting wasps.
"P. metricus" belongs to the kingdom Animalia (animals), the phylum Arthropoda (arthropods), the subphylum Hexapoda (having six legs), the class Insecta (insects), the order Hymenoptera (which includes ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies), the taxon Aculeata (which includes stinging wasps, bees, and ants), the superfamily Vespoidea (which includes hornets, yellowjackets, paper wasps, potter wasps, mason wasps, and pollen wasps), the family Vespidae, the subfamily Polistinae (paper wasps), the genus "Polistes", and the species "metricus".
Philanthus triangulum, commonly known as the European beewolf, 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. Although the adults of the species are herbivores (feeding on nectar and pollen), the species derives its name from the behavior of the inseminated females, who hunt Western honey bees. The female places several of its paralyzed prey together with an egg in a small underground chamber, to serve as food for the wasp larvae. All members of the genus "Philanthus" hunt various species of bees, but "P. triangulum" is apparently the only one that specializes in Western honey bees.
Like other bee-eaters, they predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in flight from perches concealed in foliage. They hunt alone or in pairs, rather than in flocks, and sit motionless for long periods before pursuing their prey.
Cerceris rybyensis, the ornate tailed digger wasp, is a Palearctic species of solitary wasp from the family Crabronidae which specialised in hunting small to medium-sized mining bees. It is the type species of the genus "Cerceris" and was named as "Sphex rybyensis" by Carl Linnaeus in 1771.
While observers can easily confuse common wasps and bees at a distance or without close observation, there are many different characteristics of large bees and wasps that can be used to identify them.
Philanthus ventilabris is a species of bee-hunting wasp (or "beewolf").
Another method that "Apis dorsata" utilizes against wasps is referred to as “shimmering” behavior or defense waving. Bees in the outer layer thrust their abdomens 90° in an upward direction and shake them in a synchronous way. This may be accompanied by stroking of the wings. The signal is transmitted to nearby workers that also adopt the posture, thus creating a visible — and audible — "ripple" effect across the face of the comb, in an almost identical manner to an audience wave at a crowded stadium. These wave-like patterns repel wasps that get too close to the nests of these bees and serve to confuse the wasp. In turn, the wasp cannot fixate on capturing one bee or getting food from the bees’ nest, so the wasp will seek to find easier prey and leave this nest alone. Shimmering appears to be an evolutionary successful behavior for group living amongst social bees.
Philanthus politus is a white-striped species of bee-hunting wasp (or "beewolf").
Several parasitic wasps attack mason bees by piercing the larva in the nest and inserting eggs into the body; the wasp larvae consume the bee larva / pupa. This includes several Chalcid wasps—the tiny black (2mm - 4mm) "Monodontomerus" species and brown "Melittobia chalybii" wasps, and the largish yellow and black "Leucospis affinis". "Monodontomerus" can be a serious pest of "O. lignaria", but "Leucospis" is less common and "Melittobia" is more likely to parasitize other later emerging "Osmia". Several species of "Chrysidid" wasps, relatively large and metallic green, also consume "Osmia" larva, but these wasps develop next to the juvenile bee and consumes the larva from the outside.
Philanthus nasalis is a species of bee-hunting wasp (or "beewolf") originally described from Contra Costa County, California.
Philanthus coronatus is a species of bee-hunting wasp (or "beewolf") of Europe and the Middle East, of which there are three known subspecies:
The roughly 140 species of beewolf (Philanthinae) hunt bees, including honeybees, to provision their nests; the adults feed on nectar and pollen.
The purple-bearded bee-eater, again like its relatives, eats insects, including bees, wasps and dragonflies and beetles, which are caught in flight. This species hunts alone or in pairs, rather than in flocks, and sits on a favoured perch for long periods, twisting its head with its beard flattened or plumped, and wagging its tail back and forth before sallying after passing prey.
The third type of clerid beetles is the "nest robbing species" which live in shrubbery and in trees. Unlike the tree living species these species do not actually burrow into the bark. Nest robbing species typically hunt termite, bee, and wasp larvae, and one particular species has been noted to prey primarily on grasshopper egg masses. Not all nest robbing species actively hunt live prey, some species for example prefer to feed only on dead honey bee larvae and adults.
Bequaert describes the extensive color and shape similarities between "B. lecheguana" and a number of other species with the word “homeochromic” instead of “mimic”. He lists a number of vespid wasps and potter wasps belonging to the genera "Pachodynerus", "Odynerus", and "Ancistrocerus", and several crabronid wasps of the genera "Gorytes" and "Cerceris". Along with wasps, there are several bee species that are homeochromic, including mason bees of the genera "Megachile", "Anthidiellum", "Hypanthidium", and "Dianthidium", Cuckoo bees belonging to the genus "Epeolus", stingless "Trigona" bees, and sweat bees from the genus "Halictus". He also lists a soldier fly of the genus "Stratiomys" as a homeochromic species. While it is unclear what species he is referring to, he cites "Stelis costaricensis" as a homeochromic species, and while "Stelis" is a genus of orchid, he did not elaborate enough to rule out the possibility that he was simply using an outdated name for another insect.
As the Vespine wasps approach the entrance to the honeybee nest, more guard bees are alerted, which in turn increases their probability of being killed by heat-balling bees. Heat balling is a unique defense system in which several hundred bees surround the wasp in a tight ball and vibrate their muscles in an effort to produce heat and effectively kill the wasp inside. Alternatively, however, in the presence of a wasp, the bees may also just withdraw into their nests and await the heat-balling circumstances to develop naturally. Furthermore, other bees may just decide to fly away as an evasive measure in times of conflict, often altering their specific flight styles in order to avoid predation.
These are abundant and tame birds, familiar throughout their range. There have been estimated to be between 60-80 million little bee-eaters. They breed in open country with bushes, preferably near water. Just as the name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, who are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. This species often hunts from low perches, maybe only a metre or less high. Before eating their meal, a bee-eater removes the sting by repeatedly hitting the insect on a hard surface.
The ancestors of bees were wasps in the family Crabronidae, which were predators of other insects. The switch from insect prey to pollen may have resulted from the consumption of prey insects which were flower visitors and were partially covered with pollen when they were fed to the wasp larvae. This same evolutionary scenario may have occurred within the vespoid wasps, where the pollen wasps evolved from predatory ancestors. Until recently, the oldest non-compression bee fossil had been found in New Jersey amber, "Cretotrigona prisca" of Cretaceous age, a corbiculate bee. A bee fossil from the early Cretaceous (~100 mya), "Melittosphex burmensis", is considered ""an extinct lineage of pollen-collecting Apoidea sister to the modern bees"". Derived features of its morphology (apomorphies) place it clearly within the bees, but it retains two unmodified ancestral traits (plesiomorphies) of the legs (two mid-tibial spurs, and a slender hind basitarsus), showing its transitional status. By the Eocene (~45 mya) there was already considerable diversity among eusocial bee lineages.
Critically viewed, the terms are not strictly interchangeable. Not all solitary wasps are hunting wasps, nor are all hunting wasps solitary. The term "solitary wasps" simply describes those Hymenoptera (especially aculeate Hymenoptera) that are not social, particularly not eusocial. However, it never has been common practice to refer to parasitic Hymenoptera as "solitary", even though they definitely are nothing like eusocial, and secondly, some obligately social, even eusocial, Hymenoptera are hunting wasps in the sense of being predominantly predatory (e.g. "Vespa" and "Polistes" species). Thirdly, some solitary wasps, such as the Masarinae, are in no sense "hunting wasps". (But to avert confusion, consult the article on Euparagia.)
Philanthus pulchellus is a species of bee-hunting wasp (or "beewolf") of Spain and adjacent regions of Europe.