Today's #LookingDown photo tells a gruesome tale. This dead buff-tailed #bumblebee is being investigated by #ants. Now, ants do a couple of interesting things with dead bees. They are either harvesting it for nutrients. A number of ants will swarm the body and dismantle it as it is rich in nutrients and will feed their young. Alternatively, if it is really starting to decay, a sanitation process called necropherosis will take place where they will move it away from the colony.
One thing I didn't know today was how closely related ants are to bees. Bee and ant corpses release similar chemical signals which, in the case of ants discovering a dead bee, prompts those specific sanitation or scavenging responses. #DamnNatureYouScary #CheesebeesPhotoChallenge2026Week21 #nature #wildlife
One thing I didn't know today was how closely related ants are to bees. Bee and ant corpses release similar chemical signals which, in the case of ants discovering a dead bee, prompts those specific sanitation or scavenging responses. #DamnNatureYouScary #CheesebeesPhotoChallenge2026Week21 #nature #wildlife