When you think of a bee, you might picture a fuzzy bumblebee, or a honey bee in a hive. But it’s estimated that there could be up 26,000 species of bee. These are found all around the world on every continent – apart from Antarctica.
Some of these species are particularly unusual: as they have an appetite for meat.
Vulture bees are a group of three stingless bees from the Trigona family that obtain nutrition from decomposing carcasses.
And their acute sense of smell means they can sniff out a meal from half a mile away.
Researchers discovered that these bees evolved an extra tooth that can tackle flesh, as well as a type of gut bacteria that can digest foods that aren’t plant-based. Similar gut bacteria has been found in vultures, hyenas and other animals that feed on carrion.
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It’s thought that this novel behaviour came about due to intense competition for nectar from other bees.
Stingless bees usually have baskets on their hind legs that they use to collect pollen. The vulture bees were observed using these same structures to collect small bits of meat.
They then turn the digested meat into honey, storing it in special chambers that are sealed off for weeks before they access it.
Top image: a vulture bee nest with vulture bees surrounding it, taken from National Geographic's Secrets of the Bees. Credit: National Geographic/Javier AznarGonzález de Rueda
