![]() No matter the size, every gift to the Museum is critical to our 300 scientists' work in understanding and protecting the natural world.įrom as little as £2, you can help us to find new ways to protect nature. We are a charity and we rely on your support. Understanding and protecting life on our planet is the greatest scientific challenge of our age. To reverse the damage we've done and protect the future, we need the knowledge that comes from scientific discovery. People tell us they 'still get shivers walking through the front door', and thank us for inspiring the next generation of scientists. Museum scientists are working hard to understand and fight against the threats facing British wildlife.įor many, the Museum is a place that inspires learning, gives purpose and provides hope. We must act on scientific evidence, we must act together, and we must act now.ĭespite the mounting pressures, hope is not lost. The animals and plants that make our island unique are facing a fight to survive. Hedgehog habitats are disappearing, porpoises are choking on plastic and ancient woodlands are being paved over.īut if we don't look after nature, nature can't look after us. Our future depends on nature, but we are not doing enough to protect our life support system.īritish wildlife is under threat. Now we're wondering if you can help us.Įvery year, more people are reading our articles to learn about the challenges facing the natural world. or that it helped you learn something new. Erica adds, 'You can have a wasp that is a parasite of a spider and then a bee-fly that is a parasite of the wasp, so it's a parasite of a parasite, which is quite fun and interesting.' Scientists estimate that around 40% of all described insect species are parasites, and this is probably a low estimate as we haven't counted them all.īee-flies do not have a negative impact on solitary bee populations or their other hosts and parasitism is all part of a healthy ecosystem. Parasitism is very common in the animal world. 'It's like going from an active toddler to an enormous, sedentary teenage larva that eats the bee grubs,' says Erica. Then they go through a second metamorphosis, called hyper-metamorphosis, which is very rare in the insect world. They have false legs that they use to enter the burrow of the bees and they have been known to stuff their faces with all the pollen left for the bee babies. When the eggs hatch, the bee-fly larvae are very active. 'It's carnage and mayhem in your garden,' says Erica. The bee-fly needs to lay her eggs quickly as she is competing with other flies and wasps that are also trying to parasite the solitary bees. She is essentially carpet-bombing her eggs, which she has to do while the bee is away from its nest.' ![]() 'This helps her do something called bombing, where she fires off a row of eggs. The dark-edged bee-fly's ovipositor (egg-laying tube) has a spine that allows her to flick her eggs, adds Erica. 'She then flies over to the solitary bee's nest and flicks out the eggs, hoping they will hatch near or in the nest.' The sand protects and camouflages the eggs while also giving them extra weight. 'First the female moves her abdomen in a twerking motion to scoop up sand and gravel to coat the eggs. Many bee-fly species are parasites of bees and wasps, but there are some that target beetles, grasshoppers, ants, moths or caterpillars.ĭr Erica McAlister, Senior Curator of Diptera at the Museum, explains how a dark-edged bee-fly lays her eggs in a solitary bee's nest and the unfortunate fate of the bee larvae when her eggs hatch: ![]() The larva is a parasitoid, meaning it is a parasite that will end up killing its host. While adult bee-flies are adorable, a young bee-fly isn't quite as endearing. The gruesome parasitic nature of a young bee-fly
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