#hymenoptera — Public Fediverse posts

The new colony has moved.

They left an egg behind so I decided to give it to my much larger (nearly 5 year old) Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony. I made a paper tool to gently move it. When they noticed the paper they seemed aggressive at first— but, then one ant gently picked up the egg to take it “back” to the nest.

One of this colony is now from a different queen and I will never know, her sisters will never know— even *she* will never know who she is!

#antkeeping #camponotus #Hymenoptera

Carpenter vs. carpenter!

Today I spotted a carpenter bee (_Xylocopa_) with a disembodied carpenter ant (_Camponotus_) head still latched on to its leg! (Circled in second photo if you can't see it.)

#bugstodon #insects #bees #ants • #Hymenoptera #Apidae #Xylocopa #Formicidae #Camponotus

And here's why suspending egg sacs is a good idea. Two carpenter ants (_Camponotus_) voraciously tearing apart a different kind of spider egg sac, a ball of reddish silk fixed to substrate (in this case, tree bark, but I've also seen them on rocks). Not sure what species makes these.

#insects #ants #Hymenoptera #Formicidae #Camponotus

Found this bee hotel at Lidl today. Reed ends seem a bit rough but has anyone tried them? The reeds are also glued so there is no chance of replacing them after a season. #SolitaryBees #bees #hymenoptera #nature #BeeHotel #InsectHotel #biene #wildbienenhaus #bienenhotels #insektenhotel #lidl