Bee lice
| Bee lice | ||||||||||||
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| Braulidae | ||||||||||||
| Pascoe , 1877 | ||||||||||||
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The bee lice (Braulidae) represent a family of the two-winged (Diptera). Within this they are assigned to the flies (Brachycera). Only seven species of bee lice are known worldwide, of which only Braula coeca in Central Europe. The animals are tiny. They reach a height of about 1–1.5 millimeters and parasitize mainly on honey bees .
Due to their small size and various other characteristics, the bee lice are perfectly adapted to stay in the bees' fur. The body is very flat and hairy, the animals lack wings and swinging arches ( holders ). There is no separate neck or waist, which makes the body look a bit chunky. The eyes are only rudimentary and the mouthparts are very short. They only serve to suck up liquid food that the bees choke out. The legs are short and noticeably thickened, with the last section of the foot in particular being greatly broadened and equipped with a comb to hold on to.
The bee lice live in the fur of the bees, especially the queen . Here they eat mainly when they exchange food with other bees and when they feed the queen, and they also beg the workers directly. The bee lice infestation is usually not a problem; the queen's laying performance is only affected if the infestation is very severe.
The breeding season of the bee lice is in summer. Not much is known about mating, the eggs are deposited inside honey cells on the inside of the wax lid. The larvae eat their way through the walls and lids of the honeycomb, where they probably feed on added pollen and honey. Digestion of the wax by symbionts is possible, but questionable. The larvae, which are around two millimeters long, also pupate in the beehive .
literature
- Klaus Honomichl, Heiko Bellmann: Biology and Ecology of Insect Fishermen, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-437-25020-5 (CD-ROM).
Web links
K. Walker: Beelouse ( Braula coeca ) ( Memento of March 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). In: Pests and Diseases Image Library. April 8, 2010 (English, pictures of the bee louse)