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Photo#144144
Carpenter Bees plus ? - Physocephala

Carpenter Bees plus ? - Physocephala
Butte County, California, USA
September 1, 2007
Previous post number 143466
Carpenter Bees plus ?
Butte County, California, USA
September 1, 2007

Previously I had a dead carpenter bee in a zip lock bag on my desk when about a week later I noticed a live insect inside trying to strengthen it's wings much like a butterfly does after it pupates. It looked like a thick-headed fly from my books which it said lays its eggs in other insects. When I found these bees dead on the ground and again put them in a baggy I noticed these 4 egg-like casings several days later. I was wondering if these are what will again evolve into the thick-headed flies? I like seeing the carpenter bees around here and am wondering if they are dying naturally or if a parasite is starting to wipe them out?

I'm guessing this is likely P. burgessi
At least in fully cured adults, the very short 1st antennal segment, and uniform overall brick-red here, would clinch the ID of T. burgessi (rather than the other similar looking ferruginous species in CA...P. texana).

I think that's probably right. Because, while the the wings would pump up, and the color and superficial markings may take form and change as the recently emerged adult "cures" throughout the day...I wouldn't expect the proportions of the antennal segments to change much, if at all.

Moved
Moved from Thick-headed Flies.

Moved
Moved from Thick-headed Flies.

Sometimes there is a high per
Sometimes there is a high percentage of parasites in bees.. In Bumblebees it can be easily up to 30% or more at any given time. There are cycles between parasites and hosts, and in some years there are a lot of parasites and a lot of dead hosts and the following year there are only few hosts and the parasite population crashes, which means that there are fewer parasites and the host have a greater chance of reproduction. These are natural cycles and it is very unlikely that a host becomes extinct by a parasite, especially when it is a natural parasite (in contrast to an imported one). So I agree, do not worry your carpenter bees will be there in future.

This is indeed a thick-headed fly.
I wouldn't worry too much about carpenter bees getting wiped out by parasites, though. Parasitism runs rampant through the insect world.

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