, but the subject is so fascinating to me that I thought others might find it interesting as well.I observed a bee (initially thought it was a wasp... thanks Betty and NU for ID help) around a batch of lavender flowers by my house. It would cruise around this clump of flowers as if on "patrol". Occasionally it would quickly and aggressively land on another bee that was on the flowers, rapidly curling it's abdomen inward. When I caught it, I could see that there were several pointed "spines" protruding from the rear of the abdomen.
Turns out it's a male bee belonging to the genus Anthidium. The males are very protective of their "territory". They'll chase off bees that intrude in their territory (except, as you might expect, the females of their species
). Some do considerably more than simply "chase".From The Encyclopedia of Land Invertebrate Behaviour By Rod Preston-Mafham, Ken Preston-Mafham, page 127
The European Anthidium manicatum is of special interest due to the incredibly high level of violence vented by territory-owners against trespassers (Severinghaus et al.. 1981). The males are the "hit men" of the bee world, armed with a row of spines situated at the tip of the abdomen. After landing on an intruder's back, the male curls his abdomen upwards, forcing his spines into the other male's tissues, which often crumple under the stress. His dedication to the cause of keeping his territory free of trespassers may be evident from the dead... (the Google preview cut off at this point... but you get the idea!)
I put this fellow in the refrigerator overnight, and grabbed a few quick frames of the "weapon" at the tip of the abdomen as it was warming up outside this morning. Just about the time I realized how dismal the lighting looked, he had warmed up enough to fly away.
. Oh well, you know what they say about getting to Carnegie Hall...