bee antlers

rooftop · #1 (**permalink**) 14-08-2011, 07:52 PM

Evening Wabbers,
I'm told you can 'sex' a bee by its antlers, romance comes in many forms i suppose, so is this a boy or girl on feeding on a verbena flower. Does it depend on the antlers being straight or jointed?
best regards,
rooftop

bee antlers - Wild About Britain Pics

Matt Smith · #2 (**permalink**) 14-08-2011, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rooftop

Evening Wabbers,
I'm told you can 'sex' a bee by its antlers, romance comes in many forms i suppose, so is this a boy or girl on feeding on a verbena flower. Does it depend on the antlers being straight or jointed?
best regards,
rooftop

bee antlers - Wild About Britain Pics

It is possible to sex a bee by its antennae, but you have to count the segments - 12 in a female and 13 in a male. With practice you can tell by looking at certain species.

I have come across the "female antennae have a bend or elbow" quite a lot recently. This is not the case, both sexes have the potential to look "elbowed". I seem to recall that this bit of "misinformation" originally came from a Buglife pamphlet produced a few years ago. I did contact Buglife and got them to change their information, but this concept still keeps floating about and popping up every now and then.

rooftop · #3 (**permalink**) 14-08-2011, 08:33 PM

Thanks Matt, I'll get counting!

Klaas Reißmann · #4 (**permalink**) 15-08-2011, 08:04 PM

Hi,

this is a bumble bee, worker, of Bombus pascuorum. With a little experience you can tell the sex without counting the segments of the antennae, because of the segment the antennae of male bees look much longer. And it is the same with solitary wasps (family Vespidae), and the male bees and wasps don't have a sting so they can't sting.

Regards
Klaas