Title:
When bees get a taste for dead things: Meat-eating 'vulture bees' sport acidic guts
Author:
Jules Bernstein
Published:
University of California, Riverside, 23 November 2021
From the article:
A little-known species of tropical bee has evolved an extra tooth for biting flesh and a gut that more closely resembles that of vultures rather than other bees.
Typically, bees don’t eat meat. However, a species of stingless bee in the tropics has evolved the ability to do so, presumably due to intense competition for nectar.
“These are the only bees in the world that have evolved to use food sources not produced by plants, which is a pretty remarkable change in dietary habits,” said UC Riverside entomologist Doug Yanega.
Note:
Also see the researchers' study published in the American Society of Microbiologists.