Lecture 11 Flashcards
Order of Hymenoptera
- Sawflies
- Bees
- Wasps
- Ants
- Ecological specialists
- Herbivory
- Predators
- Parasites- Parasitoid wasps
- Pollinators
Holometabolous
Adults with two pairs of wings membraneous, transparent wings with cell like veination
Suborders of hymenoptera
- Symphyta: Primitive species without a constricted ‘wasps waist’
- Apocrita: More advanced species with a typical constricted ‘wasps waist’
Suborder: Symphyta (Sawflies)
- Adults lack constricted wasps waist
- Caterpillar- like larvae- eucephalous and polypodous
- Herbivores
- Around 8,000 species worldwide
- Larvae similar to caterpillars
Social Systems of hymenoptera
- Common nest site
- Cooperate in caring for the young
- Reproductive division of labour
- Overlap of generations
Suborder: Apocrita
- Around 12,500 species
What do predators do?
Kill and consume prey
What do parasitoids do?
- They live at expense of another animal that eventually dies
- Two types:
Ectoparasitoids (external)
Endoparasitoids (internal)
What are parasites?
- Live at expense of another animal but do not kill it
- Ectoparasites
- Endoparasites
Ants
- Family: Formicidae
- Eusocial
- Elbowed antennae
- Farming
- Biocontrol agents eg yellow (weaver) ants
- Surgical sutures, food
Gall wasps
Family: Cynipidaea
Parasitic Hymenoptera
Many different families
Wasps
- Family: Vespidae (social wasps)
- Common wasps- Vespa spp
- Predatory feeding habits- with a ‘sweet tooth’ for fruit
Superfamily: Apoidae (bees)
- Family: Apidae (honey bees and bumble bees)
- All plant feeding (nectar and pollen)
Why is pollination important?
- 85% of all flowering plants = health of natural ecosystems
- Crops = global food production
- 90% Vitamin C
- Vitamin A
- Folic Acid
- Disproportionate increase in pollinator dependent crops
Almond Pollination
- 80% worlds almonds come from California
- Self compatible, but need bees even for self pollination
- 1.6 million colonies of honeybees needed (50% total US population)
- Lack habitat, pesticide use, disease
Pollinators in Ireland
- Butterflies (35 species)
- Hoverflies (180 species)
- Moths, beetles and other flies
- Bees (98 species)
Honeybee (Apis mellifera)
1 honeybee species
Bumblebee (Bombus sp)
21 bumblebee species
Solitary bees
- About 80 solitary species
Pollinator decline
- 30% of bees in Ireland threatened with extinction
- 2 species extinct in the last 80 years
- Some species expanding
Causes of pollinator decline?
- Habitat loss
- Pesticides
- Disease and parasites
- Non-native species
- Climate change
Pesticide Use
Sprays:
- Eg. Pyrethroid
- Chemical spray and residues on flower
- Topical exposure
Seed dressing:
- Neonicotinoid
- Systemic- chemical gets into nectar and pollen
- Oral exposure
Disease to pollinators
- Movement of honeybees
- Movement of bumblebees
Pollinator conservation
- Habitat creation/ preservation
- Semi-natural habitats
- Nest sites
- Forage resources
- Resources throughout season
- Wildflowers
- ‘Don’t mow, let it grow”
Summary
- Hymenoptera are specialised
- Parasitic wasps are most diverse, useful biocontrol
- Bees and pollination
