Plenty of Action Along the Alley

More people are starting to get out & about now and with a bit of sunshine, the Digger Alley inhabitants have been keeping us amused.  The probe lens has been giving me some fun video clips again (and some conversations with the curious) so here's another dip into the world at our feet.

Beewolves normally close the door when they go out

So their burrows don't get pinched by others.  You want home to be there when you return with a bee after all!

Sliding down the burrow when they arrive home

Ornate Tailed Digger Wasps are also plentiful this year

They've been collecting a variety of bees - sometimes a bit larger than you'd expect!

They don't seem to have a bad relationship with the Beewolves, even chatting to them at the burrow entrance on occasion

Ants clear up the deceased, this one managing a bee all by itself

But I'll finish for a change with one of the little bees digging a home.  Gotta love the Green Eyed Flower Bee!

Parents Reply Children
  • gaynorsl said:
    The Beewolves close that door so tight how on earth do they find their way back?

    Ah well now, we do know that.  When the Beewolf goes out, she lays down a pheromone unique to herself - that will be the proper confirmation when she returns.  However, the route back to the burrow is from her memory of landmarks around the entrance.  When she leaves, she closes the hole before flying backwards & forwards over the top for a few seconds - memorising the area.  A pebble here, a patch of grass there.  Then she flies off.  Returning, she recognises the landmarks, homes in on her burrow, using the pheromone to confirm she's in the right place.  We know this because researchers have tested it, placing a ring of stones around the burrow then moving them a couple of feet to one side after she's left.  The returning Beewolf heads for the ring of stones, then gets confused as her pheromone isn't there.  She normally finds it eventually, just has to hunt around the area.  We see it ourselves - landmarks are always getting altered as people move around and dislodge pebbles.  Plus of course, your camera resting on the ground becomes part of her mental map!  Rain always causes plenty of arguments as, not only do landmarks change, but pheromones get washed away into other burrows.  It normally takes a few hours before things settle down again :-)