Bees on a dead frog.
August 19, 2010 4:18 PM Subscribe
Dead frog covered in bees...why?
There is a dead frog in my front yard, and earlier this afternoon when I happened to look at it, its little cadaver was absolutely covered with bees. I've been looking around on the internet without finding a good explanation (this answers.com question, for instance, was not helpful). Are there species of bees that get some of their sustenance from dead amphibians? Is there some other reason bees would be all over it?
These were definitely bees, not wasps, largish but not bumblebees.
The frog was in the dry-and-getting-stringy stage of decomposition.
There is a dead frog in my front yard, and earlier this afternoon when I happened to look at it, its little cadaver was absolutely covered with bees. I've been looking around on the internet without finding a good explanation (this answers.com question, for instance, was not helpful). Are there species of bees that get some of their sustenance from dead amphibians? Is there some other reason bees would be all over it?
These were definitely bees, not wasps, largish but not bumblebees.
The frog was in the dry-and-getting-stringy stage of decomposition.
Response by poster: Thanks for finding that for me, sanko! Holy cow. I had no idea either.
posted by not that girl at 4:26 PM on August 19, 2010
posted by not that girl at 4:26 PM on August 19, 2010
Response by poster: Hmmm, sources suggest vulture bees are tropical, and I'm in Michigan. There may yet be more to this mystery.
posted by not that girl at 4:32 PM on August 19, 2010
posted by not that girl at 4:32 PM on August 19, 2010
Are you absolutely sure they were bees? Were they hairy at all? Many people mistake German Yellowjackets for bees. German Yellowjackets feed on carrion.
posted by sanka at 4:45 PM on August 19, 2010
posted by sanka at 4:45 PM on August 19, 2010
Response by poster: Could definitely have been the German Yellowjacket, the pictures at that link have the right proportion. I am not able to identify apid species at a glance ;-)
posted by not that girl at 4:52 PM on August 19, 2010
posted by not that girl at 4:52 PM on August 19, 2010
For an illustration of how varied and beelike wasps can look, here's a helpful webpage with photos of social wasps of Michigan. I'm totally unfamiliar with your insects, so I have no guess about what kind of wasp you might have seen, but I'd bet they were wasps.
posted by purpleclover at 5:43 PM on August 19, 2010
posted by purpleclover at 5:43 PM on August 19, 2010
Response by poster: In case anybody else wanders into this thread someday, a friend of mine informs me that in Seattle, they call yellowjackets "meat bees" because they go after the meat at picnics. So I'm thinking that's what they were. Mmmm, tasty frog.
posted by not that girl at 9:31 PM on August 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by not that girl at 9:31 PM on August 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
It has to be Yellowjackets. They go through a protein phase in late summer/fall. I grew up in Michigan and they made cleaning fish interesting, to say the least. I remember they used to bite off huge chunks (relative to their body size) and fly off drunkenly to their hive.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 1:05 AM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Light Fantastic at 1:05 AM on August 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ugh, yellowjackets are the worst for stealing meat this time of year. I can't count how many late-summer and fall barbecues they have attended (uninvited) at my house.
posted by kataclysm at 7:23 AM on August 20, 2010
posted by kataclysm at 7:23 AM on August 20, 2010
I am not able to identify apid species at a glance
Believe you mean apis (which is actually a genus, not a species).
posted by Rash at 9:55 AM on August 20, 2010
Believe you mean apis (which is actually a genus, not a species).
posted by Rash at 9:55 AM on August 20, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sanko at 4:24 PM on August 19, 2010 [1 favorite]