The general structure of the bee and a description of the individual parts of its body. What is the difference between a wasp and a bee and a bumblebee and how not to confuse these insects
Among the insects flying in the meadow, there are three genera that a person encounters quite often in his life: bee, wasp and bumblebee. It's hard to confuse them. They vary greatly in color and size. But sometimes it succeeds, if you do not delve into the details of the color of a large insect that has flown into the window. We are accustomed that the bumblebee is the largest of these three species, but the predatory wasp is much larger, and the body length of some bumblebees is less than that of a bee. Therefore, it will be necessary to understand in more detail how the wasp, bee and bumblebee differ from each other, and how they are similar.
similarity
All three groups belong to the Hymenoptera family. Wasps, bees, bumblebees are social insects and build nests. All three have stingers. Families are divided into queens, workers, and male drones. After fertilization of the female, the working individuals expel the parasite males. They defend their nests by attacking with the whole family.
Bees and bumblebees belong to the family of true bees and. Bumblebee honey is superior in quality to bee honey, but it is not stored for a long time. Both genera of these insects are useful plant pollinators.
They have a smooth stinger that they can use repeatedly. Many bumblebees have almost the same body coloration.
This is where the similarity ends. Now about how the wasp, bee, bumblebee differ from each other.
Differences
Signs by which you can determine who flies around, much more. According to them, it is unmistakably possible to recognize the belonging of an insect to a particular family.
In the first place is "furry". In terms of hairiness, the rating of insects looks like this:
- Bumblebee.
- Bee.
Large wasps and small bumblebees are easy to confuse even in color. Among these unrelated insects, there are species similar in color scheme and location of marks. But wasps are always "bald".
The bee occupies an intermediate position in terms of the degree of hairiness and often also seems “bald” to an inattentive observer. In fact, she has bristles, but short and sparse.
Coloring
The degree of coloring is quite easy: the first is always dark brown. The stereotype of striped honey harvesters originated from cartoons. You can compare photos of bees and bumblebees. The differences will be immediately noticeable.
Two other insects can have not only striped, but also almost uniform color. For example, glitter wasps are iridescent, and typhia are monochromatic black. But usually people consider only insects with black and yellow stripes on the body to be wasps. This does not prevent members of other families from also biting painfully and sometimes being more dangerous.
body size
Insects can have almost no differences in length, which means that only by indicating the length of the body it is difficult to say who we are talking about. But the overall dimensions give a clear idea of who is who. This is another point that distinguishes a bumblebee from a bee or wasp.
On a note!
With an equal body length, a representative of the genus Bombus is always larger and more massive than graceful bees and wasps.
Diet and provisioning
Here, between these three representatives of the Hymenoptera order, the greatest differences are observed. The family of true bees are vegetarians and feed on nectar and pollen from flowers. Wasps - with a bias in the sphere of predators and scavengers.
The difference between a bee and a bumblebee in this area is that the first ones make stocks for the winter and leave for the winter with the whole family. The second honey is needed only for feeding the larvae. Of the entire bumblebee family, only the queen remains to winter. Therefore, being able to make honey, bumblebees do not harvest it and use it only for feeding larvae.
Wasps can eat:
- ripe fruits;
- jam;
- insects;
- carrion.
They feed the larvae with protein food. To do this, in nature, workers catch insects, including green corpse flies. In urban areas, they bite off small pieces of meat in the market or find the corpse of a dead animal.
Stocks for the winter are not made, since the entire wasp family dies out in the fall, and only the queen “leaves” for the winter.
nests
The family of real bees, in the absence of ready-made artificial hives and bumblebees, finds a suitable cavity and begins to build honeycombs there. Their nests do not have a specific shape, as they depend on the cavity in which the queen has settled.
The most common and familiar to us real wasps, at the sight of which people are not mistaken in belonging to an insect, build nests on their own. In Russia, two types can be found: a top elongated vertically (this is drawn in cartoons) and a curved “plate” irregular shape. "Plate" resembles the core of a sunflower, from which the seeds were taken out.
The “elongated top” may turn out to be a nest of hornets.
Wasps build their nests from chewed pulp glued together with saliva. The structure of the nest material strongly resembles thick paper.
sting
The bee has notches and a "lock" on the tip. This prevents the stinger from being removed from the victim's body. Therefore, the worker defending the nest dies after the attack. For this reason, the bees attack themselves only if you climb into their hive.
Insects can easily extract bumblebee and wasp stings from the victim and use them again. Pain from a bite directly depends on their size. Moreover, the wasp often bites "just like that." With a bumblebee, you have to try very hard to make him sting.
Behavior
Bumblebee is a loner. If disturbed, he will fly away. Representatives of the genus Bombus attack only in case of danger to the nest.
A single worker bee can sometimes curl around an object, figuring out the degree of its danger to itself. But it will not sting if you do not wave your arms and do not make sudden movements. Amicably attack only when attacking the hive.
The wasp is the most absurd and annoying creature of all three. May curl around an object for a long time. And it often stings for the reason "I want it that way."
If they suddenly disappear
Ecologists of the world are sounding the alarm, pointing to a decrease in the number of bee and bumblebee families. If you imagine that wasps, bumblebees, bees suddenly disappeared, then hardly anyone will notice the absence of the former. Other lovers of insects and carrion will take their place. There is not much difference who will destroy the pests. However, one should not forget that in addition to harm, as well as their relatives.
But the disappearance of pollinators humanity will feel instantly. Without bees - pollinators of a significant part fruit trees and bushes and bumblebees working on clover and in greenhouses, humanity will suffer hunger. But what to do with the decline in the number of pollinators, scientists do not yet know.
Just wondering
Finally a few interesting facts about bees, wasps and bumblebees:
- After the queen is fertilized, the bees pounce on the drones and drive them out of the hive forever. “On the loose” drones quickly die, as they cannot get their own food on their own.
- Wasps, but few people saw him. This almost microscopic droplet at the bottom of a new cell is needed by the larva only for the first time, until it becomes able to consume protein food.
- Bumblebees wake up before everyone else and are the first to collect nectar.
- The hornet is a predator that prefers live prey.
- A worker bee can tell family members the way to a food source.
All these insects are very interesting, if you do not treat them as annoying and unnecessary creatures. They bring more benefit than harm, and do not destroy them unless absolutely necessary.
Wasps are in many ways a unique insect, starting with the way they feed and reproduce, and ending with the composition of the poison and the ability to self-defense. All wasps belong to the order Hymenoptera, which, in addition to them, also includes numerous bees, ants, bumblebees, riders and sawflies.
Long-term studies of representatives of this order have led most evolutionary scientists to the conclusion that one part of insects (for example, riders and sawflies) is independent groups, developing in parallel, and the other (bees and ants) are already descendants of ancient wasps. At a certain stage of evolution, they developed the ability to feed and feed their offspring only with the nectar of flowers (which is typical for bees), or wings were lost, and the way of life became terrestrial or arboreal (this is the main hallmark ants).
The first photo shows a German wasp, and below is a bulldog ant:
Wasps are insects, among which both solitary and collective species are almost equally represented. Therefore, for biologists, they are very convenient objects for studying the transition of animals from a solitary independent existence, first to a simple colonial life, and then to social interaction with the caste structure of the family.
Scientists have not yet come to a consensus on a stable and unambiguous classification of wasps. To date, they are divided into several families and groups, whose representatives, depending on the new studies carried out, sometimes move from one group to another.
The first level of such a classification divides wasp families into solitary insects and social ones. The following families of wasps belong to the solitary living:
- burrowing;
- sand;
- floral;
- road;
- German wasps;
- glitter wasps;
- scoli;
- typhia.
The group of social insects includes the family Real wasps (however, this also includes some types of sand wasps).
An excellent example of insects living in a family are, first of all, paper wasps - it is with them that summer residents of our country most often face.
In addition, hornets, also belonging to the family of Real wasps, are well-known social insects.
On a note
The main difference between a hornet and an ordinary wasp is its big sizes. If paper wasps are only 2-3 cm long, then for European hornets this figure reaches 3-3.5 cm. In addition, hornets have a wider nape (this is clearly visible under a magnifying glass) and characteristic dark red spots on the head there , where paper wasps have black patches. A hornet differs from a wasp in a more peaceful disposition - it bites a person much less often.
On next photo the hornet and the wasp are located side by side, which makes it possible to appreciate the difference in their sizes:
The pictures below show wasps different types(burrowing, wasp-bright and scoli, respectively):
Entertaining wasp anatomy
Wasps belong to the suborder of stalked hymenoptera. Just a glance at the structure of the wasp makes it possible to understand why the suborder received such an unusual name: between the chest and abdomen of this insect there is a narrow “waist”, resembling a long thin stalk in some wasps.
Thanks to this feature, wasps can almost double their body without much difficulty and sting their prey from almost any angle - this allows them to win fights with other, sometimes even larger insects.
The body of the wasp is divided into three distinct segments - the head, thorax and abdomen, and has a strong external chitinous skeleton. The head of the wasp is very mobile and is crowned with two antennae that perform many functions: they capture odors and vibrations in the air, with the help of which the insect can evaluate the taste of liquid food and measure the length of the honeycomb in the nest.
In the photo - the head of a wasp at high magnification:
Each wasp is endowed by nature with powerful jaws - mandibles. They serve both to feed on plant foods - soft fruits, berries, flowers - and to kill prey. For example, most hornets, attacking even such large insects, like cockroaches and praying mantises, they practically do not use a sting, but completely manage only with strong jaws, with which they successfully crush the chitinous covers of their victims.
In the photo, the wasp caught a fly:
The flight speed of the wasp is quite high, but, however, is not a record for insects in general. That is why even well-armed striped predators often become victims themselves - for example, large predatory flies and dragonflies.
As for coloring, even here the wasps stand out from all other insects with a worthy variety. So, for example, some types of paper and flower wasps have bright contrasting black and yellow stripes and look so that it is impossible not to recognize them.
Other species may have a completely different color: from rich black to turquoise and purple. In any case, the body color of these insects is always well recognizable (especially in the animal kingdom) and allows them not to become a victim of an accidental attack, scaring away many mammals and birds.
The first photo clearly shows how the German wasp looks like - a common view in Europe:
And this photo shows a fiery glitter, painted in unusual (due to the lack of black and yellow coloring) colors:
This is interesting
Wasps have largest number mimic insects that mimic their coloration and appearance for protection from predators. An excellent example is the hoverfly fly, which looks very similar to a wasp. Birds and mammals, knowing that the body of an insect in black and yellow stripes usually has a dangerous sting, bypass it. Such a fly-wasp itself is absolutely harmless.
Photo of a hoverfly fly - the black and striped coloration really gives it a menacing look:
This is interesting
The wasp has five eyes: two large compound eyes located on the sides of the head and providing a wide angle of vision, and three small eyes on the forehead.
The main eyes have a rather complex structure, and consist of a great many individual elements that form a mosaic picture. They focus weaker than, for example, a person, but perfectly capture any movement of objects in the field of view.
As for the extra eyes, each of them is more human-like and even has its own pupil.
In another photograph of a wasp under a microscope, you can clearly see the additional eyes on the insect's forehead:
The sizes of wasps vary widely. For example, the giant scoli South-East Asia grows up to 6 cm in length; the Asian giant hornet is not far behind it - about 5-5.5 cm. But the vast majority of representatives still have more standard sizes for insects. In this case, usually (but, nevertheless, not always) the size of the body corresponds to the degree of danger of the insect.
Wasp sting, poison and stings
Despite the fact that many wasps are very successful with their jaws, attacking other insects or defending themselves from enemies, their sting is their main means of defense.
Over many millions of years of evolution, the ovipositor characteristic of hymenoptera became harder, stronger and connected with poisonous glands, turning into one of the most advanced killing tools in the insect world.
Unlike a bee, a wasp can sting a person several times in a row: its sting has no notches and therefore can be easily removed from fairly soft skin. Theoretically, the number of bites per attack is limited only by the wasp's venom supply. However, in reality, even one bite is enough to drive away a several times larger enemy.
Wasp venom is a dangerous mixture of a large number of different substances: one of them, for example, causes severe irritation of nerve endings, the other leads to cell destruction, the third is responsible for the development allergic reaction etc.
At the same time, in different representatives of the families, the ratio of the components of the poison is strictly individual, and therefore the consequences of their bites differ. Thus, it cannot be said that all wasps sting in the same way.
The photo below shows a road wasp:
According to the descriptions of the victims, this insect stings more than any other, and its bite is considered the second most painful among insect bites in general (the palm here belongs to the South American bullet ants).
And in this photo - a huge Japanese hornet, which has an extremely toxic and allergenic poison. Every year several dozen people die from the attack of insects of this species. Their bites often result in hemorrhages and severe allergies.
And this insect in the photo is a scolia:
Despite their impressive size, scolia sting rather weakly, and the pain at the bite site is not felt for long. Such unusual feature due to the fact that the purpose of the sting of scolias is mainly to immobilize the victim, and not to kill her.
Since ancient times, there has been an opinion that a hornet bite is incredibly painful and much more sensitive than. In fact, the poisons of the hornet and the wasp are in many ways similar, and the severe pain and serious consequences that everyone talks about when they mention the hornet are due to the large amount of poison injected. In addition, hornet venom is somewhat more allergenic and often leads to severe outcomes - anaphylactic shock, extensive edema, and even death.
On a note
The fear of bees and wasps is called apiphobia from the Latin "apis", which means "bee".
Brave Predators
A unique feature of wasps is the nature of their diet, which is largely determined by the specifics life cycle. In their development, these insects undergo the so-called complete metamorphosis: the larva has a thick worm-like body and does not at all look like an elegant, fast adult insect, either in appearance or in its "gastronomic preferences".
The wasp larva is a predator that feeds only on animal food, while adult insects mostly manage with flower nectar, sweet juicy berries and fruits. In some cases, the attitude to food even goes to extremes: for example, in philanthropists, also called bee wolves, the larva is physically unable to digest carbohydrates.
This is interesting
Even huge scolias, which have a creepy appearance and gloomy colors in their adult state, feed on the nectar of flowers, but their offspring grow and develop, slowly eating the larvae of the cockchafer paralyzed by their parents.
For their larvae, wasps get the most diverse protein food, always choosing the most tasty pieces in their opinion. In social wasps, adults catch other insects or bite off pieces of meat from carrion or perishing fish, then chew this food themselves, mix it with their digestive enzymes, and only then feed the offspring with the resulting mixture.
This is interesting
The larvae of social wasps do not excrete excrement, which would simply have nowhere to go from the honeycombs. All waste products accumulate in their body, and after the departure of the young wasp, they remain in the combs. Then the working individuals clean the vacated "cradle".
If we talk about single wasps, then their feeding algorithm is completely different and bears little resemblance to that of public relatives. Female solitary wasps, as a rule, catch arthropods, paralyze them with their poison, hide them in a mink, and then lay eggs in their victims. The live "canned food" obtained in this way will serve as a source of food for the larvae developing from the eggs for a long time.
Interestingly, the victim with eggs laid in it usually lives until the pupation of its tormentor. The larva eats it, starting with those organs, the loss of which will not lead to quick death, and therefore, although paralyzed prey may lose most of the body, it will still remain alive.
Range potential victims very wide. However, some species of wasps are highly specialized and prey, for example, only on spiders or bedbugs (at the same time, they can also attack very large tarantulas).
The photo below shows just such an attack on a spider:
But hornets, for example, eat literally everything that consists of meat. Scientists have found among their victims a variety of insects, slugs, worms, centipedes, even lizards and rodents. However, as entomologists suggest, the hornets do not attack the same mice, but only feed on the remnants of the table of wild cats at a convenient opportunity.
This is interesting
The rainforest-dwelling Emerald Cockroach Wasp (see photo below) strikes the brains of its prey—cockroaches—so precisely that they can then only walk under the control of the wasp. It turns out a kind of cockroach-zombie. After the bite, the predator leads the victim by the antennae into its hole, where it lays an egg on it.
Beekeepers have a special relationship with striped predators around the world. For example, they are a very formidable force: some large species of them can ruin many thousands of hives.
In general, wasps play an important role in nature, including from the point of view of human agricultural activities, because they are able to destroy a large number of harmful insects. In addition, wasps play the role of a kind of orderlies of insect populations and factors of natural selection.
Lifestyle and reproduction of wasps
The lifestyles of solitary and social wasps are quite different. So, for example, harvesting paralyzed prey is the only thing that an adult single wasp can “offer” to its larva. At this point, she stops caring for her offspring (only in some species, the female can visit the minks from time to time and bring additional food into them).
With social wasps, things are much more complicated. Their founding queen hibernates in a safe shelter (in a hollow, under a stone or under bark), and in the spring begins to build a nest and lay the first eggs in it.
The young insects hatching from these eggs take upon themselves all further cares for building a nest and obtaining food, and the task of the uterus is then reduced only to expanding the family.
The nest itself is built by social wasps from pieces of young tree bark, carefully chewed and sealed with saliva. The output is a kind of paper, which serves as the only one for these insects. building material. If we are talking about large enough nests of hornets, then in this case, winged builders can completely rip off the bark from the young branches of individual trees.
In the photo - a hornet's nest under construction:
This is interesting
Wasps never sleep though dark time days, their activity is significantly reduced. At night, they are in the nest and usually chew on the bark collected during the day. Near the nest, the noise from such chewing is sometimes clearly audible even at a distance of several meters.
All insects in the nest are sterile females. Only at the end of summer, the uterus begins to lay eggs, from which females and males capable of procreation emerge. These young individuals swarm, mate with each other, and then leave the parental nest forever.
Fertilized females soon find shelter for the winter, as their uterus did in her time, and the males die. At the end of the season, all working individuals die, along with the old founding female.
Wasps are eaten by bears, wolverines, hedgehogs and many other wild animals that are not afraid of the bites of defensive insects. Inexperienced domestic dogs and cats are also sometimes not averse to feasting on striped "flies", but very often they suffer because of this.
Some birds also eat wasps. For example, bee-eaters have perfectly mastered the art of hunting these insects: the bird grabs the victim across the body, beats it on a branch, and then crushes and swallows.
But the European honey buzzard, a large bird of prey, catches insects with its paws on the fly, but before feeding the prey to its chicks, it carefully tears off the sting. Interestingly, the visual acuity of the honey buzzard is such that it can follow its prey in the summer forest from a distance of several hundred meters.
In the photo - a honey buzzard surrounded by angry insects:
And yet, despite the rather large number of natural enemies, the main threat to many wasps in nature is the reduction of habitats suitable for their life. So, today the common hornet is already becoming a rarity, usually arranging nests in hollows of trees, but often not finding a sufficient number of such shelters due to immense deforestation in some regions.
As for some other species of wasps, they may not be found anywhere else in the quantities necessary to preserve the population, therefore, for example, plowing even a small slope can lead to their disappearance in a particular area.
Given the rather sad world statistics, the governments of some countries are already taking special environmental measures aimed at protecting certain types os.
Not everyone knows the similarities and differences between bees and wasps
Many people believe that although bees and wasps differ in some way, these differences are quite insignificant, since both of them can bite a person. This slight difference lies in the color by which the wasp is distinguished from the bee. Otherwise, if we compare the way of life of wasps and bees, it is difficult to say that these differences are quite insignificant.
In fact, if you carefully study this issue, then it is absolutely different insects who lead different lifestyles. There are many interesting facts from the life of these insects, which will be discussed in this article. In addition, the article addresses the problem of the bites of these insects.
Bees are representatives of the order Hymenoptera, and wasps belong to the suborder of stinging insects of the stalked-bellied insects.
Bees:
- Scientists know about more than 520 species of bees.
- Bees are found on every continent except Antarctica.
- She has a proboscis, with the help of which the bee collects pollen, and also drinks sweet nectar.
- The bee has two pairs of wings, while the back pair is somewhat shorter.
- The sizes of these insects vary between 2.1 mm - 39 mm.
- With the help of antennae, in the form of antennae, the insect is oriented in space.
- Bees live in a swarm, inside of which there is a queen. The bees are always guarding her. In addition, the family has drones and worker bees.
- Adult bees can live both separately and in families where there is a division of labor.
- Worker bees are busy collecting honey all the time, and building honeycombs for storage from special substances that they themselves secrete.
- In apiaries, bees live in colonies in hives. One hive can contain up to 40 thousand bees.
There are several main types of bees, such as:
- Honey bees.
- Chinese wax bees.
- Alfalfa leaf-cutting bee and others.
What you need to know about bees:
- Bees pollinate many plant species that rely heavily on this process. Bees - exclusively useful creatures and represent the largest group of pollinators in the global ecosystem. Farmers often use the services of beekeepers, negotiating the placement of apiaries in the vicinity of farmland.
- These tiny creatures play an important enough role in the balance of nature that many people are unaware of. People are so accustomed to this neighborhood that it seems that nothing threatens the bees at all. In fact, this is not the case and the bees are constantly exposed to negative impacts: they die from bad ecology, from killer bees, from poisons in fields and gardens, which leads to a decrease in numbers throughout the world.
- If bees disappear, then humanity is unlikely to survive, because without them it will not be possible to grow most of the crop. With such a massive task as carrying pollen from male colors on women, only insects can cope. It will be difficult for a person to cope with such a problem, and some farmers from the USA, China and other countries of the world were convinced of this when many bees died. Special workers had to be hired to pollinate the plants.
- Nowadays, bees are exposed to many factors that affect the behavior of bees. These are both viruses and signals mobile communications, and chemistry. As a result of this action, the bees find it difficult to find their way to their home. When new swarms are formed, they do not want to fill the vacant hives. Beekeepers demonstrated to the government to take action to save the population of these beneficial insects.
Interesting to know! Scientists know about 21 thousand species of bees, and in Europe there are about 1965 species. 400 species of them are endemic.
It is often said that bees were created by God, and wasps by the devil. How true this saying is can be learned from the way of life of these and other insects.
Bees:
- Exclusively beneficial insect, which provides a person with a valuable food product - honey.
- These insects pollinate up to 80% of all plants on our planet.
- A bee can sting a person only if the person provokes it.
- These insects often appear in places where food rots, as a result of which they carry dangerous ailments.
- Wasps fly just like that, they don’t give anything to a person, but they can steal honey.
- They build nests in close proximity to a person, as a result of which a person becomes an object of attack.
- Wasps can also live in families and alone, while the uterus hibernates alone.
- feed on ripe apples, pears, grapes, etc., causing significant damage to the crop.
- Striped aggressors bite very painfully. As a result of a wasp sting, intoxication of the body occurs.
- Wasps visit places that can serve as a source of dangerous diseases. Therefore, they can have pathogens of various infections on their paws. Even with a single wasp sting, cases of secondary infection are possible, which cannot be said about bees.
If you carefully consider the wasp and the bee, you can see characteristic differences. Therefore, a wasp and a bee can be distinguished by appearance and coloration. The bee has subtle stripes that are covered with short hairs, so this part of the body seems shaggy. The wasp, on the contrary, has a clear distribution between black and yellow stripes, while there are no villi. The bee has a rounded abdomen, while the wasp has clear division in the zone chest. In the lower part you can see a long, oblong abdomen, without villi. In addition, the wasp does not have a proboscis, but it does have powerful jaws.
Diet
This factor is the most interesting, because it can be used to determine how useful an insect is. Bees feed on the sweet nectar of honey plants, and wasps on spoiled fruits and vegetables, as well as food waste. In addition, they catch insects, including bees, and will not refuse the carrion of birds and various animals.
Behavior in stressful situations
It is important for everyone to know that the behavior of these insects depends on the influence of various factors. You can anger both some insects and others. Bees always protect their hive in which the queen is located. In case of penetration into the hive, the bees immediately, with the whole family, come to the defense. Wasps act in much the same way and in the event of an attack on their nest, you can get numerous bites. There is an opinion that wasps can attack just like that, but this is rather a myth. They sting only if they are provoked, otherwise wasps can fly and not touch anyone. In any case, you need to be careful, both with bees and wasps.
Sting Features
A bee sting has its own characteristics: after a sting, the bee dies, as it cannot pull out the sting. It remains in the human body, along with part of the intestines. The stinger has serrations, so it securely clings to human skin. In addition, human skin is quite elastic and elastic. After a wasp sting, the stinger does not remain in the wound, and the wasp can sting several times. During a bite, wasps use their jaws, thanks to which they bite through human skin.
The wasp stings are much more painful, but the nature of the bites has its own similarities.
As mentioned above, wasps can sting several times. At the same time, there is a risk of infection, since wasps often visit places where complete unsanitary conditions reign. As for the bee, the sting is not so dangerous, since the bees do nothing but collect nectar from flowers - honey plants.
Each person should be able to provide first aid for wasp and bee stings. Ignorance of these rules, as well as illiterate actions, can harm human health. This is especially true for people prone to allergies, young children, expectant mothers and people with poor health.
As a result of a bee or wasp sting, the following characteristic signs appear:
- Swelling of the bite site.
- Redness.
- Severe throbbing pain.
- Deterioration of well-being.
In cases where the human body is hypersensitive, the reaction may be as follows:
- The swelling increases, the tissues of the larynx, tongue and face area swell.
- There are problems with breathing: attacks of suffocation are possible.
- The heart starts beating much faster.
- The redness extends considerably large area body.
- An increase in body temperature or the release of cold sweat is possible.
- The person has a feeling of anxiety.
Anaphylactic reactions appear if the degree of intoxication of the body is more severe:
- The person loses consciousness.
- Hemorrhages in the eye area.
- The human skin becomes pale.
- The pulse is barely palpable or is 100 beats per minute, or even more.
- The pressure is either high or low.
- Breathing problems, the victim is barely breathing.
- tachycardia develops.
- There are painful sensations in the abdomen and chest.
- The wound is very itchy.
- Nausea and dizziness are possible.
When to Seek Medical Help
You must immediately call ambulance", If:
- In cases of multiple bites.
- When anaphylactic reactions occur.
- When a person is prone to allergies, but the necessary drugs were not at hand.
- When an insect has bitten on the tongue, in the area of \u200b\u200bthe face or eyes.
- If the victim is a child or a future mother.
First aid rules
- Take the victim away from the place where he was bitten by a wasp or bee to a safe place.
- Pull out the sting, if bitten by a bee, with tweezers, moistening it with alcohol or cologne.
- The bite site is wiped cold water or other disinfectant solution.
- If this happened far from home, in nature, then the bite site is washed clean water, after which a leaf of plantain or dandelion is applied to the bite site, which also need to be washed with clean water.
- A cold compress is applied to the wound to relieve discomfort and itching.
- The bite site is treated with drugs, such as Fenistil-gel, Rescuer balm, etc. Application is possible folk remedies such as aloe juice, chopped parsley and others.
- The victim should take an allergy pill.
- Give the victim a drink of plain, mineral or bottled water without gas in order to quickly remove toxins from the body.
What not to do with bee and wasp stings
Many people are incorrectly oriented in this situation, which can cause serious damage to the human body. As a rule, a person is seized by panic and, as a result, wrong actions that can lead to negative consequences.
So what not to do:
- Squeeze out a sting or poison.
- Burn the bite.
- Rub the affected area.
- smoke.
- Consume alcohol.
- Move actively.
- Be in direct sunlight.
You can't just lie down. An acceptable option is a half-sitting position. In this position, the load on the heart is minimal, and in case of vomiting, a person will not be able to suffer.
Distinguishing a bee from a wasp is not at all difficult. If we talk about the benefits, then the bee brings more benefits, although the wasps also have their own purpose and take their place in the ecosystem. To say that wasps are useless insects is wrong. They bite both those and others, if they are angry or interfere with their living space. If you do not provoke insects, then they will not attack a person. Sometimes the person himself is to blame for the fact that insects bite him. For some reason, they feel like they won't get hurt.
At certain conditions can sting both a wasp and a bee. In such cases, you need to know what to do. In most cases, when the human body responds adequately to insect bites, the bites go away on their own. The only problem is children who can scratch the bite and then secondary infection is possible, as well as people prone to allergies. However, they should always have antihistamines with them. The main thing in such a situation is not to get confused, otherwise unpredictable consequences are possible.
There is a legend that wasps were created by the devil, and bees by God. Following the legend, it is thanks to the blessing that bees guard human health, supplying such important and necessary components of many medicines like honey, wax, propolis. Wasps, at a minimum, are classified as useless creatures, and as a maximum, as pests. And yet, the similarity of these two insects leads to confusion, which we have to figure out.
Appearance
If you ask a child who is in front of him, a wasp or a bee, he is likely to get confused. But adults are often unable to distinguish between a bee and a wasp. And yet, these insects have a lot of external differences.
bees belong to the order Hymenoptera of the superfamily Apoidea. They look like this: the body is somewhat rounded, covered with villi. The bee, like many similar insects, has yellow-black stripes on the body, of a muted color.
Bee
At os there is no strict scientific definition, they include those from the stalked-bellied suborder, which cannot be attributed to bees or ants. Wasps have a long body, which is constricted in the chest area. The body of wasps is smooth, without villi. The color of the wasp is similar to that of a bee - the same stripes, but only bright, noticeable.
Wasp vital activity
Bees are hard workers by nature. They are ready to work endlessly for the benefit of the hive. Collecting nectar from flowers, bees produce many useful products that are used in pharmaceuticals and human nutrition. Bees build honeycombs from the wax they produce.
Wasps are not able to develop any useful product; they make their hives from a variety of waste. The diet of wasps is quite varied. They do not disdain either fruit or nectar. The diet of wasps also includes delicacies, which include flies and other small insects.
Behavior
In case of danger, bees sting, but only if they are attacked first. Thus they protect the hive. After the bee stings, it dies, leaving a sting in the opponent's body. In the family of bees, there is a certain hierarchy, in which the queen bee occupies the highest level. It is her well-being that the worker bees take care of. In winter, all conditions for a comfortable existence are created for her.
The wasp is a fairly aggressive insect. Her characteristic features are importunity and the ability to sting at any moment. In this case, the wasp does not die. In addition to the sting, the wasp uses the jaw apparatus for defense against opponents, which, in principle, is uncharacteristic for insects of its family. The wasp queen spends the winter alone, she has no assistants and guards. Alone, she lays larvae and builds a nest.
Findings site
- The bee has a more rounded body. The cover has villi, the color is muted. The wasp, on the contrary, has a smooth elongated body and bright colors.
- bees produce healthy foods: wax, honey, propolis. Wasps do not produce any useful products.
- Bees do not attack first, wasps are predators by nature, they are able to sting for no apparent reason.
- After the bee stings, it dies. Wasps are able to sting repeatedly, and in addition, they bite using the jaw apparatus.
- Bees feed exclusively on pollen, while wasps have a more varied diet.
- The queen bee is surrounded by care from other members of the family, while the wasp queen is forced to take care of herself.
Wasps, bees and bumblebees belong to the same order - hymenoptera. They have many similarities, but there are also significant differences. Let's see what they are.
In nature, there are several species of bees and bumblebees, but especially many different wasps - among these insects there are completely harmless loners and real flocking monsters. For example, scolia and hornets are also wasps, although they differ markedly from the common and familiar ones in size and habits.
Outwardly, it is not difficult to distinguish a wasp from a bee and a bumblebee, especially if the insect does not move. But it happens that the Hymenoptera flies past at high speed, or manages to bite with lightning speed and hide. Just on the more common and often biting ones, it’s worth focusing on, because remembering features all types of wasps, bees and bumblebees is difficult and generally impractical.
It is also possible to recognize an insect by the nature of the bite. We will figure out how to do this and consider in detail how a wasp differs from a bee and a bumblebee.
How to distinguish a wasp from a bee and a bumblebee in appearance
The difference in the structure and color of the body in wasps, bumblebees and bees is significant:
- Wasps are thinner and more elongated, with a “wasp waist” - this is the name of the interception between the chest and abdomen, it is very thin in wasps, clearly visible. The body is smooth or with slight pubescence in the region of the head and chest, the back is black with yellow spots, the posterior segment of the body is black with yellow stripes, and the legs are yellow. Colors are contrasting, bright stripes and spots are distinguishable from a long distance. The jaws are much larger than those of bees.
- like a very large wasp, but with a less narrow waist and even more powerful jaws. Coloring is also black and yellow. The main difference is size. The hornet is 2-3 times larger than other wasps, bees and bumblebees, it grows up to 5 or more centimeters in length.
- Bees are slightly smaller than standard wasps, but their legs are thicker, black and covered with hairs. Jaws are small. The color is also black and yellow, but as if shaded, not so contrasting. The proportions of the body are more harmonious, the interception between the abdomen and chest is not so sharp, and the area of \u200b\u200bthe chest and back is strongly pubescent. The back is gray-black with a yellowish bloom, the posterior segment of the body is covered with muted yellow stripes.
- The bumblebee is fluffy, much larger, wider and stockier than wasps and bees, its paws are thick. The body is covered with wide stripes of yellow (sometimes reddish or reddish) color. There are also completely black bumblebees.
The nature of the flight
During the flight, wasps often make jerky movements, now and then hovering in one place for a couple of moments. They are able to move almost at lightning speed to a decent distance from the place where they just were. The exception is large wasps (, hornets), their movements are not so fast.
Bee flight is smoother, while bumblebees, on the contrary, fly heavily, rather slowly and with a low buzz. For a long time There was an opinion that bumblebees generally fly contrary to the laws of aerodynamics.
Behavior and nutrition
Bees, bumblebees and the vast majority of wasp species are social insects, they lead a flocking lifestyle. But bumblebees fly alone in search of food, and they can do it in the early morning, when the rest of the hymenoptera have not yet left their sleep. Bumblebees warm up their bodies in a special way and go in search of food with the first glimpse of dawn, having time to collect nectar before other insects.
Bees keep in a small group, and wasps often circle in flocks of up to 2-3 dozen individuals. Bumblebees and bees collect pollen and nectar from flowering plants, but both plant and animal food, often very intrusively and aggressively claiming their rights to any piece of edible found.
It is worth cutting a watermelon on the veranda in the summer or starting to cook jam in the kitchen - wasps are right there: they circle around the table, sit on their hands and food brought to their mouths. They willingly gnaw the meat into small pieces and take it to the hive to feed their larvae. Wasps, especially large ones, often kill bees and take their honey.
The difference between a bee sting and a wasp and a bumblebee
Compared to bees and bumblebees, wasps are the most nervous and aggressive. It’s worth embarrassingly shrugging it off or simply not pleasing them with your smell - I use the sting. Among all Hymenoptera, it is most often and most painfully. In addition, they are still able to bite painfully with their powerful jaws.
Smooth, when stuck into the skin in the wound, it does not remain, so it can use it an unlimited number of times - it will fly off and attack again. It does not harm her health. Poison calls severe pain, burning and swelling, especially if a large individual bites.
If the insect disappeared from sight after the sting, then you can understand who it was - a wasp or a bee - by the presence or absence of a sting in the wound.
Bees value their sting and only sting when absolutely necessary. They can sting only once, while they cripple themselves and soon die. The sting of the bees is notched, so it remains in the wound with a piece torn out from the back of the body. But the sensations when stinging are not as painful as in the case of a wasp.
Wasps and bees, when attacking, give a signal to relatives, and soon attack the offender together. Bumblebees are also capable of doing this, but since they mostly fly alone, in a conflict with them, most often you have to deal with only one individual.
Bumblebees sting stronger than bees and paper wasps, but weaker than hornets. Their sting is smooth, it does not remain in the wound. To provoke a bumblebee to aggression, you need to try, as this insect is much calmer than wasps and bees.
Nest device
Bees build their hive from wax (allocate it themselves), making strictly symmetrical honeycombs inside. Domestic bees live in special houses that beekeepers build for them. A hive of wild bees can be located in a hollow tree or in a crevice in a sheer cliff.
Wasps build their home from parchment, which is made by chewing wood or other plant pulp. Their hive has a rounded shape, it is gray in color, it looks like paper. The wasps attach the hive to tree branches or the ceilings of little-visited buildings, and sometimes set it up in the ground.
The nest of bumblebees is called bombidarium, insects arrange it in the holes of small animals, hollows, abandoned bird nests. The first cells of their nest are built by bumblebees, just like bees. For the device of subsequent cells, they use capsules of already hatched larvae.
Useful qualities
bees and bumblebees summer period pollinate many plants, including very rare ones. Bees provide humanity with such useful products as honey and propolis, as well as wax and perga.
Wasps are also partially involved in the pollination of plants, but their greatest merit lies in the destruction of insect pests of forests and fields. They can cause harm by nibbling on sweet fruits in orchards and attacking honey bees, but the benefits of their existence outweigh these negatives.
