Heroic Bee Warriors Fly In to Help a Mother Treehopper Protect Her Young

An Alliance Deep in the Amazon Provides Protection, for a Price!

In the lush Amazon rainforest of South America, an incredible partnership between bugs species has been formed. In the video at the top of the page, a small-scale protection racket is being run by bees! These soldiers put in work to protect their ‘subjects’, which are baby treehoppers! Treehoppers come in a variety of fascinating shapes and sizes, with over 3,500 different subspecies! Yet all of them are constantly under attack from other bugs or larger predators such as birds or frogs. While some of these foes are too big and powerful to ward off, the predatory bugs aren’t! But even against them, the mother treehopper needs help protecting all her young ones!

Aggressive and well armed with stingers, these amazonian bees take on some of the scariest bugs in the animal kingdom. The antagonist in the video is an ‘Assassin Bug’, a terrifying nightmare of the insect world! Armed with a long retractable proboscis, the Assassin Bug wields it like a syringe! Spearing its prey and sucking it dry is the method by which this villian bug devours its prey! Furthermore, the Assassin bug can clear out the entire Treehopper brood in a single hunt! That’s not all, as this bug straight from a sci-fi film has adhesive front legs! These allow it to grab onto its prey with its natural glue-legs and pin it down! The mother treehopper bravely steps forward to meet this scary beast in defense of her babies! But this kind of enemy calls for further assistance, without a doubt!

Just in time, a squadron of heroic bees sweep down from the sky like Air Force pilots, meeting the threat head on! Landing directly on the treehopper babies, the bees waste no time is rushing aggressively forward. The assassin bug makes a good effort to keep up its resolve for the hunt, but the bees are far too strong to think about taking on! Quickly, the assassin bug has to admit that the tides have turned in the battle and it retreats back down the branch. A successful defensive showing from these soldiers deserves a rewards though, and the baby treehoppers are happy to oblige! Producing a sweet, syrupy substance after a little tickle on the back, these nectar-loving bees are just as happy with the ‘honeydew’! 

Where Else In Nature Do We Find These Animal Alliances?

While there are many animal alliances that are as mind-blowing as the one at the top of this page, a few in particular are especially interesting! Documented in Australia, crows have been witnessed taking the ticks off of unhealthy kangaroos! Infested with ticks, the risk of disease and general discomfort is far higher for these poor kangaroos. Clever crows, while not necessarily thinking about the byproduct, pinch off ticks as a nutritious snack. The kangaroos, in turn, are freed of the discomfort and health risks that come associated with ticks! 

However, it’s even more incredible when an animal typically considered a dangerous predator makes a friend! When an animal such as a shark opens its mouth to let tiny fish swim inside and pick off bits of food, it defies what we know about predators! Clearly more complex than some would like to admit, these ‘killers’ can have peaceful friendships— when it benefits them of course.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © fendercapture/Shutterstock.com