Getting Friendly with Bees & Wasps

Evolutionary Relationships Gall Wasps Parasitic Fig Wasps Hymenoptera (wasps) Yellow Jackets, Hornets, Paper Wasps Ants Stingers Mud Dauber Wasps Orchard Mason Bees Honeybees, Bumblebees Diptera (flies) Beeflies, Hoverflies

Yellow Jackets Picnic pests, aggressive, sting and bite. Body solid and heavy Nests are usually in ground Capable of multiple stings When aerial, nests are enclosed Picnic pests, aggressive, sting and bite. Nature’s garbage disposers.

Paper Wasps Yellow Jacket Paper Wasp Compact, dense Dainty, slender Body slender, legs dangle in flight Be nice to me! Nests always open, common under eaves Beneficial, non-aggressive pollinators, feed on garden pests. They are not interested in your BBQ chicken!

Hornets Not aggressive unless you threaten a nest, then look out! Hornets are larger than Yellow Jackets Black and white, no yellow Nests are usually in trees or shrubs and can be basketball size! Not aggressive unless you threaten a nest, then look out! Primarily predators, not scavengers.

Mud Dauber Wasps Exaggerated petiole (waist) Larva feed on spiders Black & Yellow Mud Dauber Nests are mud blocks or tubes, have been implicated in several airplane crashes! Blue Mud Dauber Up to an inch long, they look scary but virtually never sting. Beneficial pollinators and pest predators.

Honeybees Docile, non-aggressive pollinators. Attracted to flowers by nectar, also eat pollen Stinger is barbed, its use kills the bee Entire colony will relocate in swarms Docile, non-aggressive pollinators.

Less-known Honeybee Facts Not native to North America: Introduced to east coast in 1622. Reached west coast in 1853. Honey = Bee vomit. Produced by enzymatic processing and regurgitation of nectar. Antibiotic, stores forever. Wax – Produced in small flakes by glands on the underside of the bee’s abdomen. Hive Temperature – Bees cluster and “shiver”, keeping hive temperature 81-93° year-round. Royal Jelly – Fed to all larvae for 3 days, to queen larvae throughout their development. It epigenetically suppresses DNA methylation resulting in different adult morphology.

Bumblebees 16 species native to PNW, 15 others introduced Nest in small colonies, prefer cavities “Honeypots” instead of honeycomb Forage plants targeted based on tongue length 16 species native to PNW, 15 others introduced Queens overwinter underground

Bumblebees

Bumblebee flight: Impossible? “Dynamic Stall” When the angle of a wing increases, a vortex is formed across the top surface, greatly increasing lift.

Orchard Mason Bees North American natives, beneficial pollinators Look like bluish flies Each chamber has a larva and a pile of pollen Male emerging The two outer chambers are male larvae, which hatch first, and wait…. Nest block (5/16” holes, 1-3” deep) North American natives, beneficial pollinators Very gentle, no sting

Orchard Mason Bees North American natives, beneficial pollinators Look like bluish flies Each chamber has a larva and a pile of pollen Male emerging The two outer chambers are male larvae, which hatch first, and wait…. Nest block (5/16” holes, 1-3” deep) North American natives, beneficial pollinators Very gentle, no sting

Oak Gall Wasps Tiny and stingless, rarely more than ¼” long When mature, young wasp emerges Females lay eggs on underside of oak leaf Hormones induce oak to form galls, which feed & protect the developing larva - Adults do not eat - Sex is optional - Trees are unharmed Tiny and stingless, rarely more than ¼” long

Fig Wasps Not every fig has dead wasps within, but many do. “Syconium” Inverted flowers Ostiole (entry) Larva develop in fig, males fertilize females (siblings). Then they die. In the fig. Immature fig is not really a fruit. It is inverted flowers within a casing. They need the fig wasp to pollinate them. Female wasp enters through ostiole, lays eggs & pollinates fig. Then she dies. In the fig. Females emerge & repeat. Figs absorb dead wasps. Not every fig has dead wasps within, but many do.

Dozens of species, all stingless, all beneficial! Beeflies & Hoverflies Beefly Hoverfly - Important pollinators - Larva parasitize wasp larva - Furry with long (harmless) proboscis - Larvae feed on aphids - Distinctive flying motion - Yellow stripes partial Dozens of species, all stingless, all beneficial!

Questions?