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A little-known species of tropical bee has evolved an extra tooth for biting flesh and a gut that more closely resembles that of vultures rather than other bees.
Typically, bees don’t eat meat. However, a species of stingless bee in the tropics has evolved the ability to do so, presumably due to intense competition for nectar.
“These are the only bees in the world that have evolved to use food sources not produced by plants, which is a pretty remarkable change in dietary habits,” said UC Riverside entomologist Doug Yanega.
Vulture bees, also known as carrion bees, are a small group of three closely related South American stingless bee species in the genus Trigona which feed on rotting meat.
These secretions are likely derived from the bees' diet, which consists of carrion eaten outside the nest. substance is rich and high in protein. flesh is consumed by the bee and processed by its highly-acidic gut, specialised to help break down the meat, before the bee then regurgitates a honey-like substance protein-rich secretions of the bees' hypo pharyngeal glands.
Unlike honeybees, vulture bees do not produce an excess of honey, instead producing only what is necessary to sustain the hive.
The flavour of this honey-resembling substance is described as intense, smokey, and salty, or uniquely sweet.
Honeybees produce honey from the sugary secretions of plants (floral nectar) or from secretions of other insects (such as honeydew), by regurgitation, enzymatic activity, and water evaporation. Honey bees store honey in wax structures called honeycombs, whereas stingless bees store honey in pots made of wax and resin.
Fifteen millilitres (1 US tablespoon) of honey provides = 190 kilojoules (46 kilocalories) of food energy.