[Pollinator] Fwd: [beemonitoring] Re: Fwd: FW: Bee and spider cohabiting!

Fri Jan 15 17:53:33 PST 2016

Spider and bee "roomies" have been identified (see below).  Our thanks to
Dr Ken Walker, who has, in the past, identified so many of my Australian
bees from Acacia, Hibbertia and Thelymitra.  Once again, it's echo Dr
Walker and say this is a great find for citizen science.  NAPPC members
should try to emulate Australians with similar interests.

Peter
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Walker, Ken <kwalker at museum.vic.gov.au>
Date: Sat, Jan 16, 2016 at 9:58 AM
Subject: Re: [beemonitoring] Re: Fwd: FW: Bee and spider cohabiting!
To: Joel Gardner <gard0228 at umn.edu>, Peter Bernhardt <bernhap2 at slu.edu>
Cc: Sam Droege <sdroege at usgs.gov>, "michael.batley at gmail.com" <
michael.batley at gmail.com>

This is indeed a cool cohabitation.  The bee is Megachile macularis, the
wolf spider is an undescribed species of Tasmanicosa and the flies it eats
around the burrow entrance are in the family Milichiidae. I believe the
spider dug or occupied the burrow first and the bee came second.  The
diameter of the burrow entrance appears to be wider than that normally
excavated by wolf spiders.  Joel is correct in saying leaf cutter bees
occupy rather than dig holes. You often find them in human constructed "bee
hotels".

My only theory is that predators have a prey size range which they attack -
anything above that size they leave  alone.  The spider has been observed
feeding on the small Milichiidae flies that hang around the burrow
entrance.  These flies have an interesting kleptoparasite habit of lapping
the exuded haemolymph from prey items of spiders, predatory bugs, robber
flies etc. They are known to associate with foraging ants or hang around
spider webs waiting their chance to swoop down and have a "drink".  The bee
is at least 2-3 times larger than the flies so perhaps the spider does not
see the bee as prey.

I have contacted several national and international spider and bee experts
and none have heard of this cohabiting behaviour.  I tend to think it is a
once off but it could be more common than we think.  What a great find by
citizen science.

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________________________________
From: Joel Gardner <gard0228 at umn.edu>
Sent: Saturday, 16 January 2016 7:27 AM
To: Peter Bernhardt
Cc: Sam Droege; Walker, Ken; michael.batley at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [beemonitoring] Re: Fwd: FW: Bee and spider cohabiting!

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that ground-nesting
Megachile do not dig their own burrows, or at least prefer not to if they
can find a pre-existing one.

There are many wolf spiders that dig burrows in the ground, and the webbing
around the entrance suggests that this spider is not just a random visitor,
but you are right that the behavior doesn't fit.  The burrowing wolf
spiders I have seen are shy and stay in their burrows, blocking the
entrance.  I missed that detail at first.  Perhaps it is as you say and the
spider moved in second.

On Jan 15, 2016 1:58 PM, "Peter Bernhardt" <bernhap2 at slu.edu<mailto:
bernhap2 at slu.edu>> wrote:
Dear Joel:

As this is a leaf cuter bee it's obviously a megachilid.  Please ask either
Drs Batley, Walker or Droege if they can place it down to subgenus.  I
don't think the bee is living with the spider.  I think it's the other way
around and the bee built the burrow.  This is not a trap door spider.  It's
closer to the wolf spiders that Australians call huntsmen.  Someone should
collect the spider and the bee but why break up such comfortable
relationship?

Peter

On Sat, Jan 16, 2016 at 6:32 AM, Joel Gardner gard0228 at umn.edu<mailto:
gard0228 at umn.edu> [beemonitoring] <beemonitoring-noreply at yahoogroups.com
<mailto:beemonitoring-noreply at yahoogroups.com>> wrote:

These are amazing photos!  Does anyone know the species of the bee?  That
is, can we determine if this is a unique (and possibly temporary) case, or
might this species be somehow specialized to nest in spider burrows
regularly?  Certainly there would be benefits to such a strategy, if one
could just manage to avoid being eaten.  And I imagine for ground-nesting
Megachile exploring under rocks and crevices, spider encounters must be
fairly frequent and there would be strong selection pressure to have some
way to survive them.

Joel Gardner

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