There will be tears

The Blue-banded Bees (Amegilla sp.) are back for the season and so are the parasitoid bees and wasps that try to lay their eggs in the BBB nests. These battles have been well documented over the years (click HERE). The number of parasitoid species are many.

But this year something different was observed. Not the life and death battle of the BBB versus all-comers but instead a real estate battle. The wall of the building provides a 4 metre by 8 metre real estate opportunity. For years the BBB have been digging tunnels in the soft lime mortar between the bricks and in places the bricks are hardly holding their assigned place. But sometimes a little drill hole becomes hot property.

Yesterday a Mud-nesting Wasp (Paralastor sp?) was observed guarding the entrance of an old drill hole when a Leaf-cutter Bee (Megachile sp.) obviously took exception to it being there (pictured above). What ensued was a tussle in which the bee dragged the wasp out of the hole and entered the nest itself (pictured below). The unperturbed the wasp went back to nest guarding duty with the bee inside. The altercation lasted about two hours with the bee and the wasp in turn harassing each other out of this prime real estate.

One can only assume that the Leaf-cutter Bee had started to line the nest with leaf pieces when the wasp turned up to assume ownership.

At the end of the day there can only be one winner and as the sun set the wasp was again guarding the nest entrance. But for how long…