![\"Treehoppers](\"http:\/\/www.biodiversityinfocus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Treehoppers-and-Bees20100816.jpg\" "\\"A")
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It’s been an interesting week for entomology, and I wanted to share a few of the highlights. Conveniently enough, I had a photo which nicely segues between each of the stories!<\/p>\n
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One of the dominant aspects of the photo is the aggregation of subsocial treehoppers (Membracidae, genus Aconophora<\/em>). Membracids are one of the more intriguing bugs, with their large thoracic shields which have diversified into shapes and sizes ranging from the thorn like appendages seen here, to shapes mimicking ants or wasps. But how did the treehopper get its shield? A new paper published in Nature<\/a> provides solid evidence for the evolutionary origins, and the results just may surprise you. The topic has been covered extensively in the science\/ento blogosphere, so I’ll provide the links (in no particular order) and you can chose which synopsis you like the best; they’re all excellent!<\/p>\n Our next highlight ties into the lone stingless bee (Apidae, tribe Meliponini, maybe genus Trigona<\/em>) roving around the mass of treehoppers. I saw many individuals clambering around the mass of ‘hoppers while I tried to get a photograph without falling down the hill this plant was growing on in northwestern Costa Rica. The treehoppers didn’t seem to mind the intrusion, and I suspect the bees were gathering the sweet honeydew droppings produced by the treehoppers. All tangents aside, where am I going with this? Well there’s a new documentary scoring high marks<\/a> on the festival scene which features a cousin of these bees, the European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera<\/em>) and its marked decline in recent years. Featuring interviews with what appear to be several eccentric apiculturists and entomologists, Queen of the Sun – What are the bees telling us?<\/em><\/a> sheds some light on the various factors affecting honeybee populations and what the future may hold for these economically important pollinators. Take a second to check out the trailer:<\/p>\n \n
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