Even fierce wasps are no exception. Although their larvae are carnivorous, adult bumblebees still eat a lot of nectar. At the same time, they will spread pollen like bees and help plants reproduce.
According to the research of scientists, an adult bumblebee can spread10.5 million pollen. New Zealand took a fancy to this characteristic of bumblebee. After it was introduced from Britain in the 65,438+09 century, the native clover proliferated and became one of the main rations for livestock.
Bumblebees gather honey on clover flowers.
In addition, wasps kill many insects, including many agricultural pests. So although wasps are a threat to bees, they are still very friendly to plants. Of course, not all bees and flowers love each other so much. For example, fig wasps, in addition to mutual benefit, will also "kill each other" with some plants. What's going on here? Let's get to know each other.
What is a fig wasp?
Fig bee is also a kind of bee, belonging to Hymenoptera's fig bee family. The bee in this family is very small, with an average body length of only 2-5 mm, which is very inconspicuous, so even if we see it, we will regard it as an ordinary flying insect.
And from the appearance, the fig wasp is also very different from our common bees. They have compound eyes like flies and are shaped like ants. Most of them are bright black, gray or copper with a long antenna at the tail. These female ovipositors.
Fig wasps have very high requirements for flowering plants. They generally only live on banyan trees, and figs after banyan trees bear fruit are what we often say. Of course, figs don't really bloom, but their flowers are hidden in the fruits of banyan trees. This structure is called cryptocephala.
Cryptocarpus is inaccessible to most bees because it needs to enter through the opening of banyan trees. At this time, bees need to be very small, but Ficus microcarpa can, because they are small enough to easily enter and leave Ficus microcarpa.
Li Xue's cryptocephalic inflorescence
According to their habits and behaviors, fig wasps can be divided into two types: pollination and non-pollination. Among them, the pollinated fig wasp is not "unintentional" like a bee, but intentional. According to the observation and research of zoologists, it is found that the third antenna section of the pollinated female fig wasp (male wingless) has barbed structure, which is convenient to enter the structure evolved from fig fruit.
When the fig wasp enters the male flower, it will pierce the pollen sac with barbs, then collect the pollen with the brush-like structure of the front foot, put it into two bag-like structures in the chest and abdomen, and then fly to the female flower, and disperse the packaged pollen with the front foot, so that the pollen on the stigma can be fertilized smoothly and develop into mature seeds. Therefore, without fig wasps, fig trees are difficult to reproduce.
Non-pollinating fig wasps are parasitic, and their breasts and abdomen have no bag-like structure to contain pollen. They just eat. In fact, this fig wasp is not very helpful to the reproduction of fig trees. It is more like a requester than a mutually beneficial relationship.
Therefore, fig wasps and fig trees are two mutually beneficial groups, which are interdependent and indispensable, and belong to an exclusive and mutually beneficial relationship. However, this relationship is not static. When the fig wasp begins to breed, it will undergo a great change, from benefit to "harm"
Fig from "profit" to "harm"
Pollinated fig wasps don't nest like other bees, so it is very important to find a warm, food-rich place away from natural enemies when breeding, and the safest place on the fig tree is undoubtedly the fig fruit, which can only be entered by tiny animals and needs barbed structures to pass through the bracts on the fig fruit.
Fig fruit can be divided into male fruit (flower), female fruit (flower) and gall fruit, in which gall fruit is formed after fig wasp lays eggs in female fruit. It no longer has the ability to continue to reproduce, and of course it will not produce seeds. When the larvae grow up, the fig fruit will fall and rot.