mite-infested Bee

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NikonUser
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mite-infested Bee

Post by NikonUser »

April 19 2017 was sunny and mild.
Overnight, 19/20th, temperature dropped below freezing and we had 1" of new snow,
Found this 'barely-alive' bee on a dry spot on our deck.
Brought it indoors but it never recovered. Took a look under a lens and saw it was heavily infested with mites. Killed the mites with alcohol.

Top: bee after alcohol treatment
bottom: mites that washed off in the alcohol.
I have seen many mite-infested insects but don't recall ever seeing this many on one insect.

I believe the bee is a solitary, soil-dwelling Halicitid Bee.
Will clean up the poor bee and take a closer look at the mites.

63mm El-Nikkor enlarging lens, f/4, D90, Zerene stack for top image.
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NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

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rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

:shock: :!:
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mortenoen
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Post by mortenoen »

Very interesting and pretty nasty :(
The limits of my language means the limits of my world -Ludwig Wittgenstein
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NikonUser
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Post by NikonUser »

I cleaned the bee as best I could.
Family: Megachilidae; Osmia sp. (Mason Bee).

The mites were 6-legged nymphs and as such not structurally interesting.
Image
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
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rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

What are your thoughts about the mites? Parasitic, phoretic?

--Rik
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Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

What a spectacle! The look mostly unattached, like they are just hitching a ride, as Rik suggested. Lots of mites live in flowers and get from flower to flower by riding on bees and butterflies and hummingbirds. But I've never seen such a crowd!
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NikonUser
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Post by NikonUser »

I have seen mites on insects that have been very firmly attached. These mites were not attached, except to the hairs and each other, and appear to be phoretic.

Top: ventral brightfield
bottom: ventral,polarized showing very bright spots at base of claws and in the body.

Both: Oly BH2/BHS. 10xx + 1.25x + 2.5x NFK; Zerene stacks
Image
Image
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
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Lou Jost
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Post by Lou Jost »

Wow, what detail!!!!!!
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Olympusman
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Mite infested bee

Post by Olympusman »

That's some mite infestion!

Mike
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
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MarkSturtevant
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Post by MarkSturtevant »

Phoretic, I suppose, but maybe they were infesting its home, eating something in there.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters
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abpho
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Post by abpho »

Wow. That's nuts.
I'm in Canada! Isn't that weird?
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