Bumblebee bumblebee is ... What distinguishes a cuckoo bumblebee from a real bumblebee?

A cuckoo is a bird. Bumblebee is an insect. Cuckoo bumblebee is ... who? Even specialists did not immediately understand this question. More precisely, quite recently, they were not isolated at all in a separate form. They did not even know about their existence. Observe these insects, study their habits and lifestyle began only about two hundred years ago. For the first time, the Psittens were described only in 1836 by the Frenchman Lepellet.

Description

In general, we are talking about insects. Bumblebee cuckoos are close relatives of bees, very similar in appearance to ordinary bumblebees. These insects are parasites. They make their way to the usual nests and kill the queens. Unlike most similar insects, these do not have working individuals - their families consist only of females and males. Female individuals of these deceivers lay eggs, which the owners grow as their own. In addition, the invaders themselves also live in a nest, as bumblebees take them for their kindred. They differ only in the absence of baskets to collect pollen and brushes located on their feet.

Why are bumblebee bumblebee so-called - it's understandable. But it is not entirely clear how one can distinguish them from ordinary ones. In addition to the presence of baskets, which can not always be easily seen, there are differences in the color of the wings - in psittis they are noticeably darker.

The chitinous skeleton of insects is thickened, hard - it is necessary to protect against hosts if they suddenly recognize a deceiver in their nest. The hairline has a vague color pattern. The body is not clearly delineated in colors. The abdomen is bare, there is no hair in this place - especially for females. "Fake" bumblebees can be distinguished even by sound: the sound of their flight is low, hoarse, quite unlike the melodic buzz of ordinary individuals.

The bodies are very large: 19-22 mm long and up to 10 mm wide. Males have a longer but narrower body.

Behavior

There are two versions of how the nest is captured.

According to the first of them, the female kills the mistress immediately after she enters the "room".

Another version suggests that the psittiress sneaks into the nest silently, hiding for a few days. He does this in order to become saturated with the smells peculiar to this "house". After this, the female enters the room in which the uterus lives, eating along with it. The parasite kills the hostess only when she herself needs to lay her eggs.

Bumblebees, which do not build nests, differ from the usual not only by appearance, but also by behavior. Some features are conspicuous, while others can be detected only by closely observing the life of the insect inside the nest.

For example, insect parasites fly out of the dwelling after wintering very late - in June, at which time the females of ordinary bumblebees already have time to lay their nests. Thus, they enter the family even when the first "party" of workers of barren females is already being taken out - additional "slaves" will not prevent any queen, even a fake one.

It is known that bumblebee cuckoos are not only parasitic organisms, but also quite serious killers in the world of insects. It was found that in the impotent period they are able to kill bees to get food from their honey cinders. Often beekeepers blame these losses on ordinary bumblebees.

From the description it becomes clear why bumblebee cuckoos are so called: like birds of the same name, they do not build their own houses, and their offspring are raised by extraneous insects. It turns out that this behavior is peculiar not only to some representatives of the feathered world.

Number of

In our country bumblebees, which do not build nests, live almost everywhere. In a large number of regions these insects are listed in the local Red Books, but there are places where their numbers are so large that ordinary bumblebees are endangered.

Features

Bumblebee parasites, as already known, do not have working individuals of their kind, since all the necessary work for them is done by "slaves" from captured nests. There are no baskets for collection for the same reason: cuckoo bumblebees are not the insects that make provisions. They only use what others have prepared.

Only the fertilized females remain in winter. They feed on nectar of wild-growing and agricultural plants, preferring those flowers that have a deep tubular aureole.

Threatening factors

At present, there is a worldwide decline in populations due to human activities. Bumblebees-parasites disappear as a result of the degradation of the forage base, which inevitably follows the mowing of meadows, park landscaping, and the replacement of mixed herbs. Forest fires, mass events do not contribute to the increase in the number of species.

Security

To date, not everyone, even a rural resident can say what a cuckoo bumblebee looks like. It is for this reason that in many regions the insect is listed in the Red Books, their destruction is prohibited. To create reserves in which it would be possible to preserve the species is not yet possible.

Changing the view

During the period of observation of insects it became clear that they are able to adapt to new conditions, but even with high adaptability of the species it remains quite small. The unfavorable factors affecting the biotopes are unavoidable.

Security measures

Experts believe that it is not too late to start activities aimed at preserving the population of psittis. Regular monitoring of their habitats is required. When identifying new places, it is required to establish a regime in which only improving conditions of the habitat of the event will be conducted.

It is necessary to develop and implement a program of natural content of meadows and glades, which will include an adjustable mowing of grass. At the same time, grasses can be mown somewhat incomplete and only in a mosaic manner. Such simple techniques will not only preserve forage plants, but also will not allow meadows and meadows to overgrow shrubs and trees. In addition, this will prevent the spring pal.

Experts believe that limited use of the territories occupied by parks and other places of recreational recreation can contribute to the preservation of the species. It is necessary to restore and conserve vegetation in different categories. It is important to facilitate the simplicity of maintaining communication between local populations.

It is necessary to strengthen control over how the ban on pal is observed in the spring. This can be achieved by raising the minimum penalties for violating this law.

Despite the fact that the cuckoo bees seem completely unnecessary, each individual is an important element of the existence of nature in the fragile equilibrium in which it is today. That is why it is so important to make every effort to preserve any, even the most "unnecessary" species.