JHR 81: 143–164 (2021) doi: 10.3897/jhr.81.61067 RESEARCH ARTICLE https://jhr.pensoft.net Simultaneous percussion by the larvae of a stem- nesting solitary bee – a collaborative defence strategy against parasitoid wasps? Andreas Müller1, Martin K. Obrist2 1 ETH Zurich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Biocommunication and Entomology, Schmelzbergstrasse 9/ LFO, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland 2 Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Biodiversity and Conservation Biol- ogy, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland Corresponding author: Andreas Müller (
[email protected]) Academic editor: Michael Ohl | Received 23 November 2020 | Accepted 7 February 2021 | Published 25 February 2021 http://zoobank.org/D10742E1-E988-40C1-ADF6-7F8EC24D6FC4 Citation: Müller A, Obrist MK (2021) Simultaneous percussion by the larvae of a stem-nesting solitary bee – a collaborative defence strategy against parasitoid wasps? Journal of Hymenoptera Research 81: 143–164. https://doi. org/10.3897/jhr.81.61067 Abstract Disturbance sounds to deter antagonists are widespread among insects but have never been recorded for the larvae of bees. Here, we report on the production of disturbance sounds by the postdefecating larva (“prepupa”) of the Palaearctic osmiine bee Hoplitis (Alcidamea) tridentata, which constructs linear series of brood cells in excavated burrows in pithy plant stems. Upon disturbance, the prepupa produces two types of sounds, one of which can be heard up to a distance of 2–3 m (“stroking sounds”), whereas the other is scarcely audible by bare ear (“tapping sounds”). To produce the stroking sounds, the prepupa rapidly pulls a horseshoe-shaped callosity around the anus one to five times in quick succession over the cocoon wall before it starts to produce tapping sounds by knocking a triangularly shaped callosity on the clypeus against the cocoon wall in long uninterrupted series of one to four knocks per second.