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Ancestor: Apis mellifera (Western Honey Bee)
An example of a species from the "fruitnectar" category of bees. Fruitnectar bees are a category based on their heavy selection of fruit juices and pulp as a food source when flowers are scarce. They evolved independently many times amongst bees in the 100,000 years that have passed and thus not all bees in this category are necessarily closely related. However, the time passed since their common ancestor is short enough that they are being treated as a group. They may also look different from each other in colour and pattern, giving away the polyphyletic nature of the category. This one above is a worker of it's respective species, having gathered pollen from the last flowering plants of the year, mixed with some juice and pulp of the earliest fruits.
Temporal Range:
Temporal Range:
Evolved: Started to appear around 10,000 Yh, became a common evolutionary trope by around 50,000 Yh.
Extinct: Not yet.
Geographical Range:
Geographical Range:
Location: Temperate climate band across Catland from the West coast across the continent towards the East coast. Also found on some islands to the West where habitat is suitable.
Viable Habitat: Mixed forest and shrubland interspersed with catnip meadows is ideal habitat for these bees, but they can be found in a range of habitats such as wooded grassland or thicker forest with fewer openings for light to reach the ground.
A broad approximation of the range in yellow, the maximum in which hybridisation can carry genes across this group.
Stats are ranges between all species. This accounts for the high variability!
Queen (female)
Worker (female)
Drone (male)
Length:
15 mm - 25 mm
8 mm - 17 mm
12 mm - 22 mm
Lifespan:
2 - 6 Years
25 - 34 days
3 Months (unless mated)
Typical Hive Population: 40,000 bees - 120,000 bees
Typical Hive Volume Capacity: 30 - 90 Litres
Dietary Needs: Pollen and nectar from flowers , honey made from pollen and to a larger extent as the year progresses, juice and pulp from soft sugary fruit.
Life Cycle: The life cycle and caste structure of the fruitnectar bee hive is pretty much the same as the original honeybees introduced during the first seeding event. However what nutrients are utilized and the way they're utilized differs from species to species. Almost universally so, fruit and fruit-pulp are the lowest quality food reserved for developing late-season workers and as a quick means of restoring energy for tired workers without dipping into the honey and pollen supply. They are stored in separate cells (though they may still contain some honey and pollen, they are treated separate if they have any fruit juice) because of their high rate of contamination and fermentation. Essentially they must be consumed quickly and stored for minimal time. Any signs of fungal contamination in the wax structure of the hive are scissored out with the cutting mouthparts and carried far away from the hive. Spoilage doesn't happen often due to high vigilance of the workers and good organisation, and is usually a sign the hive is under stress from heat and humidity combined. Spoiled cells are consumed by low grade workers, who may fly off and die drunk away from the hive where the spoiled juice can't contaminate any more cells. In some hives juice cells are exterior only and can be emptied with a strategically placed hole. Some bees use their wingbeats to create an airflow to cool the hive on hot days, and will do this next to the fruit juice cells to collectively dry these stores into a thicker syrup to last just a bit longer, but it's often unnecessary as it's the first thing consumed by workers and worker larvae before more expensive stores are tapped into. Honey, pollen and royal jelly are reserved for to-be queens and drones.
Hybridisation between fruitnectar species across Catland are common due to their recent divergence from each other (thus, similar genomes) and similar life strategies, and genes can drift (given thousands of years) from one side of the continent to another. This is what separates the fruitnectar group from fruit-feeding bees on other continents.
Other: Fruitnectar bees have larger, sharper mandibles for cutting open the skins of ripe fruits. Planet Cat Sanctuary has flowering plants, but nowhere near as many as back on Earth. To make up for a lack of a variety of flowers as well as limited availability in the year due to the lack of variety is why fruitnectar bees supplement their foraging on ripe fruit juices.
Many species of fruitnectar bee have evolved a high alcohol tolerance and are able to filter it from the fruit sugars in their stomach so that what they bring back to the hive is a purified, alcohol-free product. At high doses they get "drunk" but can sleep it off and excrete the metabolic products of the alcohol's breakdown. That is unless they are tanking spoiled fruit cells in the hive as a sacrifice to save the hive from a contamination disaster, in which case they may ingest enough alcohol or mycotoxins to kill them.
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