NEOTROPICAL Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forest
wasps, bees & ants

The diverse ants, wasps and bees of the tropical American rainforest...

Family Formicidae, 'Ants'

There are estimated to be some 1000 species of ants in the Amazon region.

Camponotus sericeiventris, 'Golden Carpenter Ant', (canopy tower, Amazonia Lodge, Peru).

'Leaf-cutter Ant' (Villa Carmen Lodge, Peru).

Tribe Meliponini, 'Stingless Bees'

Stingless bees are found throughout the tropical forests of the world. They don't need to sting as they don't need to defend an external nest as do stinging bees; their colonies are protected by being inside trees or rock gaps, and are only accessed through a narrow resinous tube of an entrance. They may not sting, but they sometimes bite. Some species are known as 'sweat bees' as they may drink the sweat off human skin (there are some other bees that also do this and are similarly named).

A stingless bee on the arm of the author  (Amazonia Lodge, Peru).

For the page on the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the plants of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the invertebrates of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the insects of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the moths of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the butterflies of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the ants, wasps & bees of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the amphibians of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the reptiles of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the birds of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the non-passerine birds of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the passerine songbirds of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the hummingbirds of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the tanagers of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the mammals of the tropical American rainforest
For the page on the places to experience the tropical American rainforest

Thinking of travelling again after everything settles down? The first expedition I am booked to work on after the virus is Micronesia, New Guinea & Indonesia in 2021 with Silversea. Meanwhile I am giving a lecture on the Sunshine Coast (Australia) on the "Sounds of suburban south-east Queensland".