Volume 24, Issue 74, July - December, 2023

Noteworthy observations on bee-predators in the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, India

Rounak Patra, Sipu Kumar, Himanshu Sahu, Amit Kumar^♦

Department of Habitat Ecology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand, India

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Habitat Ecology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand, India

ABSTRACT

Predators including invertebrates and vertebrates prey on insects in the wild as a natural occurrence for food. Insects such as honeybees, carpenter bees and bumblebees form a major diet of such predators. While certain predators such as bears, skunks and raccoons raid beehives in search of honey, other predators including birds such as Oriental Honey Buzzards and Honeyguides are adapted specifically to feed on beeswax. Bee-eaters (Meropidae) and a few members of Muscicapidae are however specialized in bee-predation. The present article demonstrates notable observations on bee predation along with foraging of beeswax and honey in the Rajaji Tiger Reserve of Uttarakhand, India. The observational records are expected to shed light on the foraging behaviours of birds and mammals that rely on bees as a primary source of food.

Keywords: Bee-Predation, Bee-eater, Honey bee, Shivalik, Uttarakhand

Species, 2023, 24(74), e56s1559

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v24i74.e56s1559

Published: 02 July 2023