The only bee in the world without a stinger, evolved to eat meat

Vulture bees' guts contain different bacteria than vegetarian bees, which help them digest meat.

Bees don't usually eat meat. However, a species of stingless wasp in Costa Rica has evolved more teeth to bite meat and has a vulture-like gut than other bees, according to research published in the journal mBio on November 23. They are called vulture bees.

This is the only type of bee in the world that uses a non-vegetal food source.

"This is the only type of bee in the world that has evolved to use non-plant food sources, a remarkable change in eating habits," said Doug Yanega, an entomologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. , Riverside, said. Experts believe that vulture bees evolved into carnivores to escape the fierce competition for honey and pollen.

Diets aren't the only oddities of vulture bees. "Despite being unable to sting, not all vulture wasps are defenseless. They range from completely harmless species to those that can bite, and some even secrete a blistering substance. in the jaw, causing the skin to develop painful blisters," Yanega said.

With a special diet, the scientists wondered if vulture bees have a different gut microbiome than vegetarian bees. To investigate, they hung bait of raw chicken from tree branches and applied ant repellant at various locations in both northern and southern Costa Rica.

The lure was successful in attracting vulture bees and scavengers. As a result, the team found that vulture bees store meat in small baskets on their hind legs, which stingless bees normally use to collect pollen. "They have little chicken baskets," says Quinn McFrederick, an entomologist at the University of California Riverside.

When the team compared vulture bees that ate only meat with bees that ate both meat and flowers and bees that ate only pollen, the team found major changes in the gut microbiome. "The vulture bee's microbiome contains many acidophilic bacteria. These are new bacteria that their relatives do not have. These bacteria are similar to those found in vultures, hyenas and animals. other scavengers, which are thought to help protect them from pathogens," explains McFrederick.

Among the vulture bees' gut bacteria are Lactobacillus, the bacteria found in human fermented foods, and Carnobacterium, which is involved in the digestion of meat. The researchers have completed the initial study and are learning more about the role bacteria play in the overall health of bees.