Pollinator problem: A new predator is stalking mason bees

As usual, the growth of a pollinator to help honeybees is now bringing its own problems…we know so little about what we are doing. I’m one of the people who bought a Mason bee hotel thinking it would help pollinate my apple trees.


The backyard conservation success of Mason bee hotels brings with it the unexpected consequence of providing infiltration by the parasite Houdini fly. Michael Williams writes. (Columbia Insight)

The houdini fly’s method of infiltration is ingenious. Adult fles inflate their heads to break through the mud wall of the mason bee’s brood chamber. Female flies then lay eggs on the pollen and nectar provisions meant for mason bee larvae. When houdini fly maggots emerge they eat the food meant for the mason bee larvae, causing the young bees to starve.

https://columbiainsight.org/pollinator-problem-a-new-predator-is-stalking-mason-bees

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