Carnivorous insects eat the dead flesh of monkeys, birds and reptiles, and their intestines have adapted not to be poisoned by carrion
Bees evolved to eat carrion
Scientists have discovered bees in Costa Rica that have developed a taste for meat after having an extra biting tooth. They have previously studied areas where people have lived for more than 100 years.
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Now, a team led by experts from the University of California, Riverside has studied how evolution has changed the gut microbiota of this species, writes The Science Times.
According to scientists, vulture bees turned into meat-eating insects to avoid competition for nectar.
The study examined 159 bees of 17 species and nine generathat ate either carrion, pollen, or both.
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The first vulture bee was discovered in 1902 by the entomologist Filippo Silvestri… He named it Trigona hypogea.
Then 80 years later, entomologist David Rubik of the Smithsonian Institute for Tropical Research in Panama reported that the colonies of Trigona hypogea ate the meat of dead animals.
They got into their diet monkeys, snakes, lizards, fish and birds. The scientist noticed that the bees left a trail of pheromones on the rotting flesh in order to call their relatives.
They can eat a dead lizard during two days, to remove all feathers and flesh from the head of passerines it takes eight hours and they gnawed two frogs in just six hours.
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The bees also carry the processed meat into their hives, turning it into a glandular substance so that later store in wax “pots”.
Interestingly, although the vulture bees do eat meat, they don’t sting. However, the bite of their tooth can cause blistering, which can cause painful sores and skin problems.
What’s more, the diet of the vulture bees changed their gut. It is enriched acid-loving bacteria which other types of bees do not have.
These bacteria are similar to the gut microbiome of vultures, hyenas and other scavengers that protect them from pathogens.
Previously, scientists showed what the planet would look like without people.
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Source From: Segodnya
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