David Element's Wildlife Web Page Hymenoptera 1

David Element

Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hymenoptera 1 – Bee-wolves

BEE-WOLF Philanthus triangulum (f)

BEE-WOLF Philanthus triangulum (f), HONEY BEE Apis mellifera

BEE-WOLF Philanthus triangulum (m)

The handsome Bee-wolf or Bee-killer Wasp Philanthus triangulum has undergone a rapid range expansion in Britain following a series of hot, dry summers. The facial markings of the sexes are distinctively different – the males have a ‘coronet’ mark on their faces - and note that the females are normally much larger than the males. Until recently this solitary wasp was only found as a rarity on the south coast, but it may now be seen in almost any suitable habitat in southern England although the population is prone to significant fluctuation. The nests are established in loose 'colonies' in sandy soil and their notorious predation of Honey Bees Apis mellifera is quite fascinating to watch. The female wasps capture feeding Honey Bees, sting them in order to induce paralysis (see 8^th photograph – note that the remainder of this fascinating series of photographs may be seen here: Hymenoptera 100 ) and then carry the bees back to their nests slung underneath their bodies and clamped in position (upside-down) by the middle pair of legs. The author has photographs that indicate the wasps may also force the bees to regurgitate nectar which they then steal – this observation was made by Roger Hawkins and it would certainly make sense for this source of energy to be utilised. The wasps relocate their nests even if they have been disturbed and then open up the entrances with their front legs (often with the captive bees still in situ) before carrying the prey deep into their burrows and stocking up their larders. They then disguise the nest entrances by temporarily filling up the entrance holes. It is interesting to note that a paralysed bee will not be taken by another wasp even if is left temporarily unguarded, indicating that the prey may have been pheromonally 'tagged'. It is also apparent that these wasps concentrate purely on a single prey species, ignoring other similar bees or honeybee mimics like drone-flies. Because of this prey specificity the recent drop in the honeybee population may well have a knock-on effect on P. triangulum and a population crash of this predatory wasp might be predicted as a consequence. No predator can afford to wipe out its prey species and there is no suggestion that this wasp is in any way responsible for the loss of such significant numbers of Honey Bees.

· David has posted several films of Bee Wolves in action – they are fascinating insects to watch. These may be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpJmR8MQNWg&list=PL4AirIEc0Noe71WjkaynaPoocE9dos2G3&index=2&t=4s; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swobWa46TJw&list=PL4AirIEc0Noe71WjkaynaPoocE9dos2G3&index=5&t=0s; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTNSeyUvxBA&list=PL4AirIEc0Noe71WjkaynaPoocE9dos2G3&index=15&t=16s; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U4pRCet4eg&list=PL4AirIEc0Noe71WjkaynaPoocE9dos2G3&index=18&t=0s; and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frart_og6SE&list=PL4AirIEc0Noe71WjkaynaPoocE9dos2G3&index=25&t=0s.

Update February 2020: Following the sad news about his recent death this page is now dedicated to David Baldock, one of Britain’s finest entomologists and a stalwart member of the team involved in researching and publishing the Surrey Wildlife Atlases. His knowledge, expertise, and willingness to assist others will be badly missed.

RECOMMENDED REFERENCES:

'The British Potter and Mason Wasps, a Handbook', Michael E. Archer, is a useful reference.

Dr John Pontin's highly informative 'Ants of Surrey' is a model study and relevant for anyone with an interest in these insects.

David Baldock's 'Bees of Surrey' was published during October 2008 and this has already been very well received by hymenopterists. This is another terrific body of work, not least because the author modestly confesses to having had no particular interest or knowledge of this difficult group at the time that he embarked on the project about 12 years beforehand. This book contains 48 full colour plates illustrating almost 100 of the 222 bee species found in the Vice-county. Many of the pictures were taken by Jeremy Early, a photographer who has developed great expertise in photographing and identifying these elusive and highly energetic subjects. The illustrations in 'Bees of Surrey' include some rare species that David Baldock believes may have not been photographed before. This book also contains entomological keys to assist with identification. These have been written and illustrated with great clarity by Graham Collins.

‘Wasps of Surrey' (October 2010) has been produced by the same team as 'Bees of Surrey' and it contains numerous high quality photographs of no less than 112 species on 48 colour plates, many of which have been taken by Jeremy Early (who is now almost certainly the most prolific photographer of aculeates in the UK). Purchasers will certainly not be disappointed by a splendid new addition to this series and its value as a reference work extends well beyond the Vice-county boundary. These books have become the definitive works in this genre.

‘Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland’, Steven Falk & Richard Lewington, Bloomsbury 2015 ISBN 978-1-910389-02-7. A masterwork and a model of how a useful entomology reference book should be written and illustrated by undoubted experts.

‘Handbook of the Bees of the British Isles’ Volumes 1 & 2 George R. Else & Mike Edwards, The Ray Society 2018. Another masterwork, on an epic scale. One for dedicated experts.

There are some well-illustrated German language books in the "Naturbuch" series.

'Bumblebees', Naturalists' Handbook 6, Oliver E. Prys-Jones & Sarah A. Corbet, The Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd 1987. ISBN 0 85546 257 4 (paperback); ISBN 0 85546 258 2 (hardcover)

'Field Guide to the Bumblebees of Great Britain and Ireland', Mike Edwards & Martin Jenner, Countryside & Garden Conservation Series, 2005 www.ocelli.co.uk

'Solitary Wasps', Naturalists' Handbook 3, Peter F. Yeo & Sarah A. Corbet, The Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd. 1983. ISBN 0 521 29940 3 (paperback); ISBN 0 521 23387 9 (hardcover)

'Ants', Naturalists' Handbook 24, Gary J. Skinner & Geoffrey W. Allen, The Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd. 1996. ISBN 0 85546 305 8 (paperback); ISBN 0 85546 306 6 (hardcover)

'British Wildlife', British Wildlife Publishing, ISSN 0958-0956 contains regular Hymenoptera reports

RECOMMENDED WEB SITES:

The accurate identification of the overwhelming majority of hymenopteran insects is anything but easy, so several important links have been provided below, with the recommendation that users of this website should follow the hyperlinks to and from these specialist web sites if they cannot obtain an identification from these pages. Many of these insects cannot be properly identified from simply looking at photographs and there are literally thousands of species in the UK alone, only a small number of which may be found on this web site. A superficial resemblance is insufficient grounds for identification!

http://www.bioimages.org.uk/
Steven Falk’s Flickr Pages are an invaluable reference source for entomologists and a remarkably through series of species accounts have been provided with numerous photographic illustrations for a broad range of British insects including hymenopterans. He is an extraordinarily dedicated entomologist and we are very fortunate to be able to tap into his expertise. This link is to his collection of bees: https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/collections/72157631518508520/.
The Bees, Wasps And Ants Recording Society (BWARS): http://www.bwars.com/ is a very useful resource for the study of Aculeate Hymenoptera. The links page: http://www.bwars.com/Links.htm and photo gallery: http://www.bwars.com?Gallery.htm are very useful and some test keys have been produced by Alan Stubbs for Hylaeus and Nomada bees.
http://www.aculeata.de/Links/links.html
Chrysis (Ruby-tailed Wasps): http://www.chrysis.net/index_en.php
Earthlife: http://www.earthlife.net/insects/images/hymenop/thumbs/hy-thumbs1.html
Some useful references to Aculeate Hymenoptera websites will be found on the Aculeata website: http://www.aculeata.de/Links/body_links.html
Jean-Luc Renneson's Faune Entomologique de la Gaume Belge website http://users.swing.be/entomologie/Guepes.htm is very useful for Paper Wasp identification.
http://www.vespa-crabro.de has some excellent information about hornets and other wasps and also contains some useful reference photographs.
A series of films taken in France illustrating the behaviour of bees and other insects has been posted on YouTube by flhorea01: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeyN0ghccFCbGDVPKhP45DA/videos .

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