Jatai bees keep big soldiers to protect their nest against robbers

London, Jan 10 (ANI): The first ever known "soldier" bee has been found in colonies of a Brazilian stingless bee known as a Jatai.

The bee is larger and heavier than other worker bees in its nest and defends the entrance, the Guardian reported.

A team of researchers from Sussex University and the University of Sao Paulo studied the Jatai bee (Tetragonisca angustula), which lives in colonies of 10,000 individuals in cavity walls, tree trunks or in the ground.

The study found that Jatai soldiers are 30 percent heavier than their forager nestmates, have larger legs and smaller heads.

They stand on the tube leading to the entrance of their nest to provide early warning of attack by robber bees, which can kill entire colonies when raiding nests for food.

The new research found that Jatai soldier bees, unlike guard bees in honeybee colonies, are physically specialised to perform the task of protecting their nest mates.

"The discovery is significant in term of the evolution of advanced insect societies. Large-bodied soldier workers have long been known in ants and termites, but this is the first evidence of a soldier bee - a worker physically designed for active defence of their nest," said Francis Ratnieks, professor of apiculture at Sussex, who was involved in the study.

The finding was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)

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