Conservation of bee predator

[alan refail]

Buglife is launching a campaign to conserve native species of oil beetles

http://www.buglife.org.uk/getinvolved/s ... etle+Hunt/

Things begin to get a bit scary when you read the life cycle of these beetles

http://www.buglife.org.uk/getinvolved/s ... +Cycle.htm

I note especially the section which says

The eggs hatch into leggy, louse-like larvae known as triungulins. These larvae are very active, and for good reason – in order to survive and reach maturity they must immediately find a bee and hitch a ride on its back.

To have the best chance of meeting a bee, the larvae climb up flower stems and lay in wait within a flower. A solitary bee collecting pollen for its own nest may unwittingly become covered in the oil beetle larvae, secured by their specially-adapted hooked feet.


Once inside the bee’s nest, the triungulin change into an entirely different larval form and begin to feed on the bee’s eggs and the store of pollen and nectar. The larvae grow rapidly on this nutrient-rich source of food and after undergoing three more moults they pupate and overwinter in the bee's burrow before emerging the following year as adult oil beetles.

[Nature's Babe]

Alan I haven't seen these beetles... but I do see bee flies which also attack solitary bees nests., bombilious major, they only survive where there is a good population of bees, maybe the insect is less successful than the bee flies now there are less bees about.