Meat-Eating “Vulture Bees” Sport Acidic Guts and an Extra Tooth for Biting Flesh - SciTechDaily

November 25, 2021.

Typically, bees don’t eat meat.

They differed quite dramatically, according to a study the team published on November 23, 2021, in the American Society of Microbiologists’ journal mBio.

The baits successfully attracted vulture bees and related species that opportunistically feed on meat for their protein.

“They had little chicken baskets,” said Quinn McFrederick, a UCR entomologist.

For comparison, the team also collected stingless bees that feed both on meat and flowers, and some that feed only on pollen.

“The vulture bee microbiome is enriched in acid-loving bacteria, which are novel bacteria that their relatives don’t have,” McFrederick said.

We could get sick from that because of all the microbes on meat competing with each other and releasing toxins that are very bad for us,” Maccaro said.

Individual from the Trigona family of stingless bees, some of which eat meat.

In addition, though they feed on meat, their honey is reportedly still sweet and edible.

“They store the meat in special chambers that are sealed off for two weeks before they access it, and these chambers are separate from where the honey is stored,” Maccaro said.

“The weird things in the world are where a lot of interesting discoveries can be found,” McFrederick said.

McFrederick, 23 November 2021, mBio

November 23, 2021

November 23, 2021

November 23, 2021

November 22, 2021