#Euglossine bee

[wayti-blog]

(images: x x x x x)

"The tribe Euglossini, in the subfamily Apinae, commonly known as orchid bees or euglossine bees, are the only group of corbiculate bees whose non-parasitic members do not all possess eusocial behavior."

Wikipedia

"The perfume that male orchid bees create by collecting scents from the flowers they visit is designed to make females choose them rather than another mate.

Male orchid bees collect raw materials from multiple sources, including the orchid flowers they pollinate. These are used to concoct perfume mixtures that are stored in specialised hind-leg pouches (...)."

"The composite odour created by combining different molecules allows communication of more integrated information, such as how suitable a male is to be a father (...)."

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[wumblr]

vanilla production facts

it is an orchid

the flower blooms one day per year and must be manually pollinated. pollination causes the base of the flower to swell almost immediately, from there it takes weeks to develop into a seed pod

vanilla costs about $300/lb. this being the pulp of the fruit itself, the extract we are familiar with is dilute. second only to saffron for expense. the price also tends to fluctuate greatly depending on the abundance of any given year's crops

there are three strains of cultivated vanilla. cultivation dates as far back as the totonac people in the 12th century, who live in present day veracruz, on the eastern coast of mexico. the olmecs may have also used wild vanilla in cooking thousands of years earlier

vanilla was cultivated in european botanical gardens but not really used much for 300 years after the colombian invasion of mesoamerica until finally some idiot realized the melipona bee doesn't live there, which may not have even been the correct type of bee (possibly euglossine)

five years later (1841) a 12-year-old slave named edmond albius on the island of reunion figured out how to manually pollinate the flowers, which is an extremely delicate and difficult process. some french botanist claimed to have invented this process, and people believed him for over a century

the aroma doesn't develop until after the seed pod is harvested and processed. it must be sorted, graded, blanched, then alternately sweated and dried for 15-30 days. the blanching halts fermentation, which makes one wonder, what is a fermented vanilla seed pod like?

synthetic vanillin is derived from eugenol, from clove oil, and lignin, from any number of sources. the vast majority of synthetic vanilla is made from wood creosotes which occur as a product of lignin pyrolysis (fire). its major source is, like anything, the petrochemical industry, which requires heat to fractionally distill oil into several byproducts (kerosene, naphtha, gasoline, etc). which is to say, 85% of synthetic vanilla is made from the wood smoke of the oil industry. you might be inclined to ask "doesn't this pollute" which, if you recapture the smoke to sell its particulate creosotes to synthetic vanilla producers, no, i guess not really, or "why don't they use oil to heat the oil" because it is more profitable to sell the oil and burn wood to make it, obviously

it is difficult to tell the difference between natural and synthetic vanilla in baked goods, because the baking process burns off the distinctive notes, most of which differ by growing region (tahitian vanilla is floral, indonesian vanilla is smoky, mexican vanilla is woody or spicy, bourbon vanilla from reunion has an alcoholic richness)

price markup occurs not at the point of farming, but after the point of curing. there is no set price for green vanilla beans, but there is a set price for dried vanilla beans, after they have passed through several middlemen from farmer to broker to curing. after this point, they are marked up several more times before finally making it to grocery store shelves in the form of bottled extract

in 2017 a cyclone destroyed maybe 30-80% of madagascan vanilla crops, where possibly as much as 60-80% of the global supply of vanilla is grown. in the 5 years since then, the price has not recovered, but boy howdy, have the labels gotten more fancy in specifying when it's from madagascar, haven't they?

70% of madagascar lives below the poverty line, despite the island producing the majority of the world's supply of the second most expensive spice

by volume, the number of vanilla beans imported to the united states every year is nearly two for every single member of the population (~640m, for a ~330m population)

anyway stop pouring a whole bottle of it into a cup for a joke what the fuck is wrong with you people i hope to god that ibuprofen potion post was staged with some vaguely brown liquid. also the word vanilla etymologically derives from the latin vagina meaning sheath ok bye

[floralreality4eva]

A Vanilla Scented Tulip Orchid - by Becky Brinkman

Monday, June 13, 2016

Vanilla was not what I was expecting to smell yesterday when watering the Anguloa bench. If anything, I would have expected some foetid smells from the adjacent Nepenthes, quietly digesting their insect soup. Vanilla just isn't a fragrance I associate with Tulip Orchids. But no mistake, a little searching among the big accordion pleated leaves brought me to this guy, Anguloa cliftonii. At close range the fragrance was the familiar camphor/cineole common to many Euglossine bee fragrances, but with sweet overtones of vanilla. This is only the second time we have flowered cliftonii. Either I wasn't paying attention last time, or I caught it at the wrong time of day. What a treat.

[lavendergraypup]

I don't know near enough about bees as I should, so I've never heard of euglossine bees before but am gonna read more about them before I take a nap, so thank you!

Vegans of tumblr, listen up. Harvesting agave in the quantities required so you dont have to eat honey is killing mexican long-nosed bats. They feed off the nectar and pollinate the plants. They need the agave. You want to help the environment? Go back to honey. Your liver and thyroid will thank you, as well. Agave is 90% fructose, which can cause a host of issues. Bye.

[dustedmagazine]

Euglossine — Bug Planet is the Current Timeline (Hausu Mountain)

Bug Planet Is the Current Timeline by Euglossine

Bug Planet is the Current Timeline is as profuse and diverse as the title suggests. Named for the adjective related to orchid bees, Euglossine AKA Gainesville musician Tristan Whitehall, adds guitar, bass, piano and flute to his synthesizers and drum machines, cross-pollinating jazz fusion, acoustic ambience, drum ‘n’ bass and illbient atmospherics into intricate micro-suites. Whitehall’s juxtapositions of clarity and murk ricochet his music along a spectrum from organic warmth to alien abstraction. His tracks are full of unexpected twists and changes in perspective. It’s like walking through a forest, full of life seen and unseen. There’s a path, carefully laid out, but in service to the environment rather than the visitor. Whitehall leads the listener through thickets of thorny beats into clearings of smooth bass and guitar runs, restless buzzing, the hum and rustle of tiny creatures in the loam of the forest floor and shafts of warmth through the avian rich canopy.

On “Rain People” the glossy keys and guitar riff struggle to maintain a foothold under a barrage of stuttering beats and bursting bubbles of synth. When it feels like it’s about to dissolve into its contradictory elements, a balance emerges. It’s a thread that runs through the record. “Ice Gel” begins like one of those big 1980s air grabbers, the foreboding build then Euglossine transforms not into hyperbolic emoting but a playful ping-ponging, Sabres of Paradise like IDM. In contrast “Mindgame” is straight ahead drum ‘n’ bass over synths that manage to both squiggle and surge. “Heavy Pink Glow vs Pink Dot” builds like a red sky morning,  with radiating synths over a wandering bass riff, awakening a busy daytime chatter of percussion and lively glitch.

The sound design throughout is impressive. Whitehall subtle manipulation of clarity, levels, balance and mix are key to his subversions and his percussion programming provides a structure resilient enough to accommodate those twists and turns. Crisp hi-hats and snares, cavernous kick drums and complex beats emerge from the undergrowth and then fade. The live instruments woven into the mix add warmth and balance. As he dances across genres, Whitehall makes Bug Planet is the Current Timeline a delightfully unpredictable joy of a record.

Andrew Forell

[ecuadorlife]

Orchid Bee, Euglossa sp. one Mesechites trifidus, Apocynaceae by Andreas Kay Via Flickr: from Ecuador: www.youtube.com/AndreasKay

[ironicallyantiquated]

Orchid Bees, or Euglossine Bees.

Photo taken by entomologist Gil Wizen.

[heycalacademy]

Orchid bee

Scientific name: Exaerete sp. Locality: Rondonia, Brazil Collector: A. Sourakov Department: Entomology, image © Kathryn Whitney, California Academy of Sciences

[harleyandunomunart]

I made the white sketch first and really liked it so I did a bit more work on this one than the previous two. 

I can actually say I still like it. Heck, I would probably wear something like that if I ever had a need to wear a helmet

[mercerspoems]

Caturday Special: The Kodkod, Leopardus guigna

#Caturday Special: The Kodkod, Leopardus guigna - We continue our #tradition with the #kodkod, the #smallest #cat in the #americas - a #beautiful spotted #hunter seemingly #endemic to #Chile. #Cats #CatLovers #CaturdaySpecial

Oh my days! I want to squish it until it makes funny noises and turns me into a bloody mess! What a cute and gorgeous cat! Those incredible spotted markings, the perfect dappling to breakup your form in the shadowy undergrowth, its magnificent! (Credit: Mauro Tammone CC-BY-3.0) Much like the cat itself this post is likely to be quite small but very sweet. You see the Kodkod is the smallest cat…

[rcannon992]

Orchid bees - masters parfumiers of the natural world

Orchid bees – masters parfumiers of the natural world

Ever wondered what’s inside your favourite bottle of perfume (or after-shave)? How many compounds – fragrance notes – go to make that seductive smell? Turns out that there are lots, maybe 30 or 40 per perfume? It’s all a perfumers (parfumier in French) secret of course; the ‘formula’. But there are thousands of aromatic sources to choose from; natural and synthetic. I came across a website…

[onenicebugperday]

Eulaema cingulata is a species of large-bodied euglossine (orchid) bee native to Mexico, Central and South America.

Photo credit in order from top: juanbarrios, magazhu, cmtercero, sandwich, josepablocastillo, mmccarthy98, and kkrockytop

[cyanocoraxx]

shiny bees

neon cuckoo bee (thyreus nitidulus)

neon cuckoo bees are parasitic bees native to australia. they are recognisable by their stocky build and striking metallic black and blue colouration. as the name suggests, females seek out nests of the blue-banded bee and lay their eggs in them whilst they are unguarded. blue-banded bees often construct nests near to each other so the neon cuckoo may raid more than one nest in the same trip. after hatching in the host nest, the larvae of the cuckoo bee consume the larder that would be meant for the blue-banded larvae.

dilemma orchid bee (euglossa dilemma)

dilemma orchid bees are solitary, euglossine bees native to central america. they sport a glossy, metallic green colouration and translucent wings. males are specialised to pollinate neotropical orchids and collect fragrance from them for courtship, but when the orchids are not available, they may visit basil, rotten timber and wood oozing resin to gather other fragrances. to attract a mate, the male releases the fragrance and fans his wings to disperse it. after mating the female builds a solitary nest using exudates from plants.

long-tongued bee (euglossa hyacinthina)

the long-tongued bee (to answer your question, it's 4cm long) is a species of orchid bee native to the neotropics of central america. it is a metallic, glossy blue with dark translucent wings. it is eusocial and has an unusual social structure - it has no worker or queen bees, but females are dominant when a social hierarchy is formed. 82% of these bees are female and only the females have stings. females spend a total of just 18-37 minutes building their resin nests to lay their eggs.

green sweat bee (agapostemon texanus)

green sweat bees are bright metallic green, blue or brassy yellow with black and yellow bands. like other sweat bees, these bees are attracted to human sweat for its salt, but they are also very important pollinators for many wildflowers and crops including pomme fuits, alfalfa, sunflowers and stone fruits. they build a nest in bare, dry dirt or soft wood and live a solitary life. only females are capable of stinging but are non-aggressive, so the risk to humans is low unless a female is swatted or otherwise injured.

orchard mason bee (osmia lignaria)  

at first glance, the orchard mason bee appears black, but is actually a stunning metallic blue or green. males have longer antennae than females and a tuft of light-coloured fluff on their foreheads. these bees are very shy and peaceful and fly away when disturbed instead of stinging. they can also decide on the sex of their eggs they lay by either fertilising the egg or not - unfertilised eggs are male, fertilised eggs are females. to lay the eggs, orchard bees make nests using mud and arrange their brood in a series of partitions, one egg per partition. one or two female eggs are laid in the back of the nest in the larger cavities and an average of three males towards the front. the mother works tirelessly to stockpile pollen in the nest for the emerging larvae until she dies at four to eight weeks old. (photo © raven ariana simons)

[lobitadluna]

Euglossine Bees

Made with INC pen.

[bestiaryartistry]

Prompt #3 is... Bee Dragon! I knew there are just, an absurd amount of bee species out there, so I wanted to take inspiration from a lesser known species instead of something like a bumblebee or honeybee.  Doing some research, I honed in on the group known as orchid bees (or euglossine bees), then further into the genus Exaerete, in which all of the species are metallic green- except one.  The species Exaerete azteca is metallic BLUE with hints of purple and gold on certain areas.  So yeah, this little fella is based off of that species. No in-universe lore for this dragon, it's just a dragon based on a cool-looking bee.

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Thursday 18 January 2018

In the tropical glasshouses of Cambridge Botanic Gardens the Gongora quinquenervis (flying dragon orchid) was producing these wonderful trailing flower spikes. This South American species is noted for their fragrance smelling of cinnamon, allspice, or nutmeg. The scent is part of the reproductive strategy not only of the orchid but of male euglossine bees that the flowers attract as they collect the fragrance to make them more attractive to the female bees.

Jill Raggett