Trigona hypogea

The earliest research into vulture bees was undertaken prior to the realization, in 1991, that there were three vulture bee species rather than one,^[1] and focused on Trigona necrophaga in Panama (e.g.^[2]). It was not until 1996 that a detailed study of genuine Trigona hypogea in Brazil was finally published.^[3]

In Trigona hypogea, when a forager returns to the nest, the regurgitated material derived from animal carcasses is deposited in special pots and later mixed with sugary plant products; they do not gather nectar or produce honey, but they gather sugary secretions from fruit and non-floral sources (e.g., extrafloral nectaries), and at least initially regurgitate these into separate pots within the colony.^[3] After being mixed, the pots remain uncapped for about a day, and are then closed and allowed to mature for about two weeks. During this time the carrion-derived materials degrade into simple compounds used by the bees. The stored substance is initially paste-like, but it becomes a viscous fluid, and eventually becomes sweet and honey-like, homogeneous and yellowish.^[3] Earlier analyses of T. hypogea nests had incorrectly assumed that the pale sweet liquid found in the colonies was florally-derived honey.^[1]