My over-protective bumblebee

[GartenSpinnen]

I live on the 3rd story of my apartment complex and have made my patio into a little garden area. Lately I have had this huge bumblebee hanging out around my patio, and he will not let anything near it. Birds, hornets, flies, moths it does not matter, he tears them to pieces in mid flight. It is absolutely amazing to watch, I never knew they were so talented in the air. It is like watching this huge bulldozer fly around bulldozing everything in the air.

Usually because our apartment complex consists of wood, we get large amounts of yellow jackets, hornets, wasps and the like. Since I have an allergy, I have been putting out a hornet trap to cut down on the populations of these around my patio. Last year I had to constantly empty the trap of wasps; but now that my new pet has been guarding the patio, I have not caught a single one this year.

At first I thought this bumblebee was a nuisance, but he is doing such a superb job of guarding the area. He has not seemed to be bothered by us, instead treating us like we are his 'turf'. We decided to go ahead and name him Spaz and I am trying to figure out a way to repay Spaz for helping be such a good patio-keeper. I have heard of praying mantis's guarding greenhouses and gardens, but never a bumblebee.

Hopefully when I get my camera charged I will be able to get some interesting photos of Spaz in all his moth/wasp midair shredding glory These guys are seriously the A-10 tank killers of the bee world... I love em!

 

[GartenSpinnen]

Scratch the pics... it seems my new friend does not like cameras very much, not to mention it is a bit more difficult trying to get pics than I imagined it would be! Damn it is like trying to take a shot of hummingbirds in mid flight, they are just so fast and never seem to land.

 

[Malhavoc's]

I would not be suprised if spaz was female, and he had dug a hole in the wood, to form a nest or in the base of one of your plants

 

[Ryujia]

That sounds like some of the large butted bees we get near the roof of our house. They're so defensive or territorial, if you were to throw a pebble near them, they'll go after it and chase it while it falls. lol So interesting.

 

[Vulgaris]

I think you all are talking about male carpenter bees (Xylocopa) They are notorious for that territorial behavior, and can't even sting. A shy bumble queen would never exhibit such behavior

http://bugguide.net/node/view/381549/bgimage

 

[GartenSpinnen]

Interesting information and it does appear to be a carpenter bee I believe. I finally got a shot of it as well! With my camera phone none-the-less in mid flight. I was amazed I obtained a shot, let alone a good one with a 3MP sony camera on my cell phone...

Anyway, now the little issue is getting the thing on the computer. As soon as I figure out how to get it uploaded, or go buy and overpriced Sony memory chip for it; or specific adapter for the USB, which I am sure is also 'expensive', I will upload.

 

[Moltar]

Male carpenter bees can't sting? As in they don't have the capacity at all or it's just not in their temperament?

I love big bees, they're such clunky doofuses, very fun to watch and interact with.

 

[skilletsteve]

Anyway, now the little issue is getting the thing on the computer. As soon as I figure out how to get it uploaded, or go buy and overpriced Sony memory chip for it; or specific adapter for the USB, which I am sure is also 'expensive', I will upload.

if you have a texting plan you can just text the image to your email address and then have it there. It is what I always do.

 

[Vulgaris]

Correct. The stinger of a bee is a modified ovipositor (the organ that all female insects use to lay eggs). Males obviously don't lay eggs thus they don't have an ovipositor thus no stinger. That is part of the reason why the social wasps/bees evolved to have empires of all females (and only produce males when needed)

Yeah I also just text-email my photos to my computer

 

[Moltar]

Correct. The stinger of a bee is a modified ovipositor...

Ohhh... Suddenly the whole social structure of bees snaps into focus for me!

 

[Tony]

They love to burrow into my deck's wooden joists, and therefore are most unwelcome.

 

[ZergFront]

My Mom was going to move a bird house one time and didn't know bumblebees had moved in. They didn't sting her but they kept "body slamming" her. She eventually did get their little house moved.

Now this spring we have this over-possessive, very large hoverfly that won't let other flies visit it's catnip plant. Almost always lands on the same leaf, too. :?

 

[myrmecophile]

I seriously doubt he actually tears them apart in mid-flight or at any other time. Carpenter bees just aren't made for that sort of activity. The males are however quite protective of their little chosen territories and will challenge any intruders.

 

[GartenSpinnen]

Well, seeing as to how I would not make up watching the bee catch a moth in mid air, bite it several times, and watch the moth drop out of mid air to the ground below; it would seem as though male carpenter bees 'do' do that.

 

[xhexdx]

Can you take a video and post it instead of pictures?

 

[myrmecophile]

Please understand I am not accusing you of making this up. However since the Identity of the animal is in question there is some reasonable doubt as to whether the observed behavior is a result of a carpenter bee's activity. I am thinking at this point that perhaps we have a different insect doing it's thing here. Carpenter bees (male or female) just aren't designed for this sort of attack on other insects. I would love to see images of this insect and video as well of the behavior you are describing.

 

[BrynWilliams]

certainly sounds cool, any luck getting a picture?