Armed - _TNY_9253
Unlike with most species of bees (there are 20,000+ species in the world), the male of the European carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) is significantly larger than the female.
This is a result of their peculiar behaviour where the males chase away anything that isn't a female of his species from "his" plants. And since when chasing away, size is an advantage, evolution has led to larger males.
But that's not all it has equipped the males with. Since stingers in bees and wasps are modified ovipositors, ie lady parts, no male has a stinger. But some sort of weaponry could be helpful when chasing away other bugs so the males of this species actually have five black spikes on their tail which they use as weapons when defending their turf - three of them are clearly visible in this photo.
Armed - _TNY_9253
Unlike with most species of bees (there are 20,000+ species in the world), the male of the European carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) is significantly larger than the female.
This is a result of their peculiar behaviour where the males chase away anything that isn't a female of his species from "his" plants. And since when chasing away, size is an advantage, evolution has led to larger males.
But that's not all it has equipped the males with. Since stingers in bees and wasps are modified ovipositors, ie lady parts, no male has a stinger. But some sort of weaponry could be helpful when chasing away other bugs so the males of this species actually have five black spikes on their tail which they use as weapons when defending their turf - three of them are clearly visible in this photo.