Some bee have develop a gustatory sensation for carrion , in a delightfully twisted evolutionary turn . These vulture bee , as they ’re known , have unique bowel microbes that avail them concentrate meat .
A team of entomologists , seeking to learn more about these pollen - eschew bees , of late set up wimp lure in a Costa Rican forest . They terminate up collecting a bunch of vulture bees ( Trigona necrophaga ) and analyzed their guts and genetics in particular .
“ These are the only bee in the world that have evolved to habituate food sources not bring about by plant , which is a pretty remarkable change in dietetic habits , ” said Doug Yanega , an bugologist at University of California , Riverside and a co - author of the late paper , in a universitypress release .
Vulture bees feed on raw chicken in Costa Rica.Photo:Quinn McFrederick/UCR
While average bees have pockets on their back legs to store pollen as they fleet from peak to flower , the vulture bees have repurposed the depot as “ little chicken basket , ” according to study Centennial State - author Quinn McFrederick , also an entomologist at UC Riverside .
Besides obvious external features , the squad wanted to make love what was happening inside the bees . Most bees ’ catgut are reside by five sort of microbes that help the animals go against down what they consume . So what go on when a species swap out pollen for raw chicken and nectar for blood ?
To figure it out , they collected other bee species that only sometimes eat meat , as well as some that are strictly vegetarian , to compare the bacterium that populate the insects ’ guts . The carrion - eater ’ guts had a distinct microbiome , one built for break down sum .
“ The vulture bee microbiome is enriched in acid - eff bacteria , which are novel bacteria that their relatives do n’t have , ” McFrederick said . “ These bacterium are like to one find in actual vultures , as well as hyenas and other carrion - feeders , presumptively to help protect them from pathogens that show up on carrion . ”
The team think that the bees likely began eat nub due to competition for nectar . Whatever the reason , you have to wonder about the fresh evolutionary trajectory the animals may now be set on — allow ’s go for they do n’t grow a hankering for humans .
More : The Genetics Behind Bees ’ Black and Yellow Butts
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