Chaste cuckoo bumblebee

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Chaste cuckoo bumblebee
Bumblebee January 2008-4.jpg

Chaste cuckoo bumblebee ( Bombus vestalis )

Systematics
Superfamily : Apoidea
without rank: Bees (Apiformes)
Family : Real bees (Apidae)
Subfamily : Apinae
Genre : Bumblebees ( bombus )
Type : Chaste cuckoo bumblebee
Scientific name
Bombus vestalis
( Geoffroy in Forcroy , 1785)

Bombus vestalis , also chaste cuckoo bumblebee or spotted cuckoo bumblebee , is a species of bumblebee from the subfamily of the cuckoo bumblebees . It is a breeding parasite that takes over the nests of other bumblebees. The main host is the dark bumblebee ( Bombus terrestris ). Bombus means “hum” in German and vestalis “chaste”.

features

Females of cuckoo bumblebees can easily be distinguished from other bumblebee species by the fact that the pollen collecting devices on the hind legs, called corbicula or baskets (see basket collectors ), are not developed. The cuckoo bumblebee species are, however, partly similar to one another in body shape and color and difficult to identify.

The queen of the chaste cuckoo bumblebee has a size of up to 21 mm and a wingspan of 37 mm. The male is much smaller at 16 mm. The tip of the abdomen is not curved in the ventral side of the species (as in some other cuckoo bumblebee species). The bumblebee is predominantly black with an orange “collar” (the first segment of the trunk section is colored orange). The third tergite of the abdomen is laterally hairy yellow. The fourth and usually also the fifth tergite of the free abdomen is largely white. The drones are smaller and have longer feelers.

From the Bohemian cuckoo bumblebee Bombus bohemicus , which also parasitizes on earth bumblebees , Bombus vestalis can be distinguished in both sexes on the basis of the length of the antennae. In her the third antennae is only slightly longer than the fifth, in Bombus bohemicus it is noticeably longer. In addition, in Bombus bohemicus the third tergite of the free abdomen is usually lighter on the side, to white, colored and the yellow band on the trunk section is lighter.

distribution

The range of Bombus vestalis extends from southern Sweden in the north to North Africa in the south and from Ireland in the west to northern Iran in the east. The species was first sighted in Scotland in 2009 . It is extremely rare in Ireland, the first sighting after 88 years in 2014. In Germany, the chaste cuckoo bumblebee is widespread and moderately frequent. In Switzerland and Belgium it is considered endangered (vulnerable), in Hungary as potentially endangered (near threatened), in the rest of its European distribution area as not endangered.

ecology

Bombus vestalis belongs to the host-specific cuckoo bumblebee species. Bombus terrestris is usually given as the only host , but there is also little information about the light earth bumblebee ( Bombus lucorum ), the main host of Bombus bohemicus . The overwintered queens appear in early spring, the drones follow in late May to early June. Early-established colonies near good foraging sources are preferred to be parasitized. The female Bombus vestalis remains in hibernation until April. By then, the host had raised the first generation of workers.

The preferred food is clover , vetch , knapweed , dead nettle , willow , blackthorn and dandelion .

Orchids of the genus Ragwurzen the on Sardinia endemic species Ophrys chestermanii and Ophrys normanii mimic the scent of mating female prepare from Bombus vestalis after. The orchid flower is pollinated by attempting to pair the drones with the labellum .

Selection of the host's nest

Cuckoo bumblebees find their hosts on the basis of the pheromone trail left by workers when they search for pollen. Bombus vestalis females can use the smell of the host workers to recognize their age and when they took over the nest. Attempts to take over Bombus vestalis are only successful if the host's nest is of a certain size , otherwise the attacker is usually killed. As soon as it enters the nest, the workers examine it and frequently attack it. If only five workers have hatched in the host colony, the probability of survival is 100 percent, with 20 workers it is around 30 percent and with 50 workers all parasite females are killed when they enter. The egg production of the workers of the host species is usually suppressed by the cuckoo bumblebee. When penetrating, however, after killing the host queen, older workers may begin laying eggs; since they are not fertilized, only males of the host species hatch.

The female cuckoo bumblebee often attacks older workers of the host species because they pose a threat to them and their eggs. She uses pheromones to identify these workers. The older a bee is, the more pheromones it excretes. The cuckoo bumblebee drones are protected from the host workers by an allomon .

Taxonomy and Phylogeny

The species was first described as Apis vestalis (Geoffroy in Fourcroy, 1785). For a long time it was classified in an independent genus Psithyrus and then called Psithyrus vestalis (Geoffroy, 1785), today Psithyrus is a subgenus of Bombus . An old synonymous name is Bremus aestivalis Panzer, 1805

The species is closely related to Bombus bohemicus , the species group was formally described as the subgenus Ashtonipsithyrus . A distinction is made between three subspecies , still described under the generic name Psithyrus , which many authors regard as separate species. Two of them are endemic to islands in the Mediterranean:

  • Bombus vestalis perezi (Schulthess-Rechberg, 1886). Endemic to the islands of Corsica and Elba.
  • Bombus vestalis sorgonis (Strand, 1917). Endemic to the island of Sardinia.
  • Psithyrus vestalis obenbergeri (May, 1944) is said to be more widespread in the Mediterranean region, including Spain. However, this subspecies is no longer recognized in many cases.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Benton, Ted, 1942-: Bumblebees: the natural history & identification of the species found in Britain . Collins, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-00-717450-8 , pp. 403-406 .
  2. ↑ a b Joseph F. Gokcezade, Barbara Amina Gereben-Krenn, Johann Neumayer, Harald W. Krenn: field key to the bumblebees of Austria, Germany and Switzerland (Hymenoptera, Apidae). In: Linz biological contributions. 42nd year, issue 1, pp. 5-42 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
  3. ↑ a b Cuckoo bumblebees . Bumblebee.org. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b Astrid Løken (1984): Scandinavian species of the Genus Psithyrus Lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Entomologica scandinavica Supplement 23: 45 pages.
  5. ↑ Pierre Rasmont: Bombus (Psithyrus) vestalis (Fourcroy, 1785) . University of Mons. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  6. ^ Cliodhna Russell: Rare bumblebee rediscovered in Ireland after 88 years. Retrieved April 22, 2020 (English).
  7. ^ A b Paul Westrich: The wild bees of Germany. Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-8186-0123-2 , pp. 718-719.
  8. ↑ Andrzej Kosior, Waldemar Celary, Paweł Olejniczak, Jan Fijał, Wiesław Król, Wojciech Solarz, Piotr Płonka (2007): The decline of the bumble bees and cuckoo bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombini) of Western and Central Europe. Oryx 41 (1): 79-88.
  9. ↑ S Erler, HMG Lattorff: The degree of parasitism of the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) by cuckoo bumblebees (Bombus (Psithyrus) vestalis) . In: Insectes Sociaux . 57, September 22, 2010, pp. 371-377. doi : 10.1007 / s00040-010-0093-2 .
  10. ^ A b Claire Carvell, Peter Rothery, Richard F. Pywell, Matthew S. Heard: Effects of resource availability and social parasite invasion on field colonies of Bombus terrestris . In: Ecological Entomology . 33, No. 3, June 1, 2008, ISSN  1365-2311 , pp. 321-327. doi : 10.1111 / j.1365-2311.2007.00961.x .
  11. ↑ Kirsten Kreuter, Robert Twele, Wittko Francke, Manfred Ayasse: Specialist Bombus vestalis and generalist Bombus bohemicus use different odor cues to find their host Bombus terrestris . In: Animal Behavior . 80, No. 2, August 1, 2010, pp. 297-302. doi : 10.1016 / j.anbehav.2010.05.010 .
  12. ↑ a b c A. Sramkova, M. Ayasse: Chemical ecology involved in invasion success of the cuckoo bumblebee Psithyrus vestalis and in survival of workers of its host Bombus terrestris . In: Chemoecology . 19, No. 1, March 3, 2009, ISSN  0937-7409 , pp. 55-62. doi : 10.1007 / s00049-009-0009-7 .
  13. ↑ Julia Gögler, Johannes Stökl, Anna Sramkova, Robert Twele, Wittko Francke, Pierluigi Cortis, Antonio Scrugli, Cesario Giotta, Marcello Piccitto, Manfred Ayasse (2008): The role of pollinator attracting scent in the sexually deceptive orchids Ophrys chestermanii, O. normanii and O. tenthredinifera. Communications of the German Society for General and Applied Entomology 16: 175-178.
  14. ^ A b Cor Van Honk, Peter-Frank Roseler: The Conquest of a Bombus Terrestris Colony by a Psithyrus Vestalis Female . In: Apidology . 12, 1981, pp. 57-67. doi : 10.1051 / apido: 19810105 .
  15. ^ Carlos Vergara, Stefan Schoder, Maria Almanza, Dieter Wittmann: Suppression of ovarian development of Bombus terrestris workers by B. terrestris queens, Psithyrus vestalis and Psithyrus bohemicus females . In: Apidology . 34, No. 6, January 1, 2003, pp. 563-568. doi : 10.1051 / apido: 2003056 .
  16. ↑ Erika Frehn, Karl-Heinz Schwammberger (2001): Social parasitism of Psithyrus vestalis in Free-foraging Colonies of Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Entomologica Generalis 25 (2): 103-105.
  17. ↑ Patrick Lhomme, Manfred Ayasse, Irena Valterova, Thomas Lecocq, Pierre Rasmont (2015): A scent shield to survive: identification of the repellent compounds secreted by the male offspring of the cuckoo bumblebee Bombus vestalis. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 157: 263-270. doi: 10.1111 / eea.12366
  18. ↑ T. Lecocq, N. Brasero, T. De Meulemeester, D. Michez, S. Dellicour, P. Lhomme, R. de Jonghe, I. Valterová, K. Urbanová, P. Rasmont (2014): An integrative taxonomic approach to assess the status of Corsican bumblebees: implications for conservation. Animal Conservation 18: 236-248. doi: doi: 10.1111 / acv.12164
  19. ↑ a b F. Intoppa, MG Piazza, G. Bolchi Serini, M. Cornalba: I Bombi. Guida al riconoscimento delle specie italiane. CRA - Unità di Ricerca di Apicoltura e Bachicoltura, Bologna 2009.

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