A very cool and interesting study about the impact of Stylopization (parasitism by Stylops ater) on a mining bee (Andrena vaga).
By tweaking the bee's endocrine system, the parasite is able to shift the emergence time. The authors also observe a masculinization effect in female host, which is believed to be a by-product of the emergence-shift.

#entomology #insects #parasite #ecology #evolution #nature #science #strepsiptera #bees

https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031182023000483

@colinpurrington

Note bees can also be stylopized: after all, bees are wasps that forgot to eat meat (except carrion bees that make meat honey from rotten corpses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulture_bee but oh well).

Here is a Hylaeus sp., a masked bee, stylopized: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/89223666 When I took the photo I had not even noticed; nearly didn't even post it, as I only had one and a bit blurry. Then John Ascher made me notice the parasite protruding from its tergites.

#iNaturalist #Stylopidae #Strepsiptera #Hymenoptera #nativebees #bees

My most recent blog post, over on Blipfoto:
https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/3083921567508334334
#BritishBees #ChocolateMiningBee #AndrenaScotica #stylops #strepsiptera #nature #wildlife #macro #CanonR5

And now I can see it in plain view around a quarter of the way across and just below half way up the sample tray for that week.

https://stangeia.hobern.net/araba-bioscan-1-8-january-2021/

#entomology #Strepsiptera #Malaise

Probably only of interest to myself ... I've added an extra parameter to the URLs for my BOLD Australia site for exploring #Australian #DnaBarcodes. If you include "gmaea=1" in the URL, it highlights the taxa and records associated with BOLD specimens from my local #Malaise trapping. I'm finding it really interesting to visualise my specimens in context.

If nothing else, it made me realise that Guelph found #Strepsiptera in the sample from the week of 1-8 August 2021.

https://bold-au.hobern.net/index.php?gmaea=1