The Very Handy Manual: How to Catch and Identify Bees and Manage a Collection

Stylopized Bees

One can find male puparia (MP), empty male puparia (EMP) and adult females (F) in bees. MP are usually very large spherical extrusions, however findings of these are quite rare. More frequently you can find EMP, these are sometimes hidden and difficult to recognize. In some cases, EMP appears as an obvious deformation. Female cephalothoraces are most commonly encountered in bees and appear as small orange/brown plate-like extrusions that emerge from beneath the rim of the tergites of the abdomen (see figure below). Upon seeing one you will have the impression of a small head peeking out from beneath the rim. Sometimes the apical rim of the tergite covers most of the parasite's body (in most Halictidae) and will appear almost invisible from the dorsal view. However, the rim of the tergite is usually lifted upwards and the strepsipteran can be viewed when looking under the rim.

Strepsipterans can modify not just the morphological features of the site where they are attached, but the morphological characteristics of the entire bee, including the sexual characters of bees. At times the characteristics of the bee are changed enough to partially disguise the species identity of the specimen. Deformations occur among all bee hosts, but they are quite rare. Sexual character changes are manipulated by the parasites and occur only in some groups – most bees of the family Andrenidae and some Hylaeus (Colletidae).

Jakub Straka, a researcher from the Czech Republic, is working on the taxonomic and ecological facets of Strepsiptera. He is very interested in collecting host records for this group, parasitism rates, and specimens for DNA analysis. If you come across any stylopized specimens in your collecting activities, please contact Jakub (straka-jakub@vol.cz). This group occurs uncommonly, so even single records are of great interest.