#trigona spinipes

[loasarte]

[wouas]

Meliponas

[bugology]

If you ever want to go down a bug rabbit hole, you can look into vulture bees that have been circulating not that long ago because of their interesting hives. (a lot of pictures of them have the bees swarming raw meat and their nests are very unsettling to those with trypophobia so be wary when searching)

Wikipedia wont help you either because apparently these bees are very undocumented and Tiktok has very much overexaggerated information to make these bees look like scary monsters ready to eat you up.

here's a video of their nest, from what I've gathered they do scavenge meat to make their hives (not honey) MAJOR TRYPOPHOBIA WARNING^^^

I was going through this rabbit hole and found this article that calls the wiki out for being so poorly documented and shining light on information as well.

This article about them also seems credible ( also contains a picture of raw meat covered in bees)

Alongside this, the bee frequently associated to being a vulture bee is not a vulture bee but Trigona spinipes and the only pictures i could find of taxidermized vulture bees are these

Anyways, if anyone has any other information about these guys feel free to add on because I'm all bee'd out for the night. Also please feel free to correct me on anything I might've gotten wrong, I love learning new bug things and thank you for reading my ramble.

( I'd also like to note that I'm no entomologist, I'm just a guy who really loves bugs and learning )

[noneedtofearorhope]

the pictured bee is Trigona spinipes, which according to wiki seems to be a more standard nectar eating bee. however the three species of vulture bee are in the same genus, Trigona. the nest is from genus Trigona but i couldnt find mention of the species, tho personally i doubt its from one of the three vulture species.

Vulture bees, bees that collect meat instead of pollen.

Vulture bees, a.k.a carrion bees a.k.a meat-eating bees, are stingless bees that feed on rotting meat of deceased animals. They have a special tooth used to rip the flesh off the corpse of the animal. Instead of regular honey produced from nectar, they produce “meat honey” which is a honey-like substance made from protein-rich secretions derived from the bees' diet, carrion. Vulture bees, like maggots, usually enter the carcass through the eye and then root around, consuming the rotting meat to take back to the hive. This meat is then regurgitated and turn into the substance that will be use to feed the hives’s immature bees (babees, haha, geddit?). The flavor of this “meat honey” is described as intense, smokey, and salty, or uniquely sweet.

• some extra info.

[arthropodenjoyer]

[17/3/2022]

i've found this little guy in my backyard

she is an arapuá bee (Trigona spinipes), a brazillian species of social bees

all individuals of this species doesn't have a sting, so they are completely harmless !!!

some time later, she landed on my hand and stared to pinch me with her litttle mandibles (it doesn't hurt!!! just tickles a little)

maybe she was trying to get some minerals and nutrients by drinking my sweat, i'm not sure

did you notice this little "tongue" that comes out of her mouth? i didn't knew bees had these

[ana-candeloro]

Trigona spinipes

[earthseed]

This tiny black bee is called trigona spinipes and is very common in Brazil - while they cannot sting, they tend to be quite aggressive and when threatened protect themselves by flying into people’s hair and buzzing loudly, or even attacking people by trying to go up nostrils and ear canals 😬

dark bee tumblr show me the forbidden bees

[sister-t0-sleep]

Trigona spinipes, known as "dog bee" here in the region

Harmless cute black bees that will land on you and get tangled in your hair and leave behind the scent of propolis

[naturesalchemist]

Stingless Bee: Unidentified Meliponini bee (probably Trigona spinipes), covered with pollen, visiting a flower of the vegetable sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica) in Campinas, Brazil. Image thanks to Leonardo Ré-Jorge

[tudosobreplantas]

Bucha vegetal (Luffa cylindrica) polinizada por arapuás (Trigona spinipes). https://www.instagram.com/p/CPJsY5bnKmF/?utm_medium=tumblr

[wouas]

[peraltaleo]

【Ａｒａｐｕã】 •£• Arapuá (Trigona spinipes), conhecida pelo nome arapuã, irapuã, irapuá e aripuá no Nordeste, é uma abelha social brasileira, da subfamília dos meliponíneos, de coloração negra reluzente e extremamente agressiva. Seu nome, derivado do tupi eírapu'a ("mel redondo"), faz referência ao formato de sua colmeia. Nos meus últimos posts, falei muito sobre o uso de meles, cervejas, limoncello e até Marshmallow! Então por que não trazer uma receita original, com aquele toque de brasilidade, unindo todos esses diversos ingredientes, a #tiquira o nosso destilado ancestral, tendo assim um surpreendente aperitivo! Então bora lá, que é só sucesso! 【Ｃｏｃｋｔａｉｌ】 Modalidade: Throwing Categoria: Medium drink Finalidade: Aperitivo - 45ml @guaajatiquira Carcará - 15ml #limoncello @sanbasiledestilaria - 15ml Xarope de marshmalow - 75ml cerveja #Doppelbock @morada_cia_etilica Guarnição: Pão de mel, uma harmonização direta, que ainda confere textura ao #drink enquanto o pãozinho esfarelasse na boca. ABV: 16,6% 📸 @studioprimefotografia • 🔞 aprecie com moderação e sem direção! • #bar #bartender #cocktail #drinks #guaajadrinks #tiquira #brasil #mixology #mixologybrasil #shakenotbroken (em Brother's Gastropub e Hamburgueria) https://www.instagram.com/p/CI6q8SHFck6/?igshid=l6uld37spxqt

[ajquadros-blog1]

Abelha "Trigona Spinipes" (irapuã) polinizando o jardim 🌹🐝 #abelha #jardim #garden #bee #trigonaspinipes (em Vila Becker)

[thaunon]

Arapuá (Trigona spinipes) abelha nativa sem ferrão pousada no melão de São Caetano. #permaculturaurbana #permaculture #abelhasnativassemferrao #acessibilidadeparatodos (em Thaunon)

[astronomy-to-zoology]

"Dog-bee" (Trigona spinipes)

...a species of stingless bee (Trigona spp.) which  is known to occur in Brazil. T. spinipes will build nests on a variety of areas, including trees and even human structures, with colonies averaging 5,00-100,000 individuals. Like other bee colonies, colonies of T. spinipes will gather nectar, to the point where they are considered an agricultural pest on many crops, including passion fruit. 

Classification

Animalia-Arthropoda-Insecta-Hymenoptera-Apidae-Trigona-T. spinipes

Image: Jose Reynaldo da fonesca