Endoparasite in Andrena wilkella

[Tobias Mueller]

Hello yall!

I was dissecting the abdomens of Andrena wilkella caught near Ithaca, NY and found an interesting endoparasite (?) in 40% of the individuals I dissected - pictures attached below. 

My uneducated guess is that they seem to be some type of flatworm? However, I can't seem to find any literature on flatworms in bees - or really insects for that matter. If anyone has any information or resources they could share that would be incredibly helpful! or even just vague guesses!

Most bees had the smaller, more transparent stage (~1mm long) while one bee had both the transparent stage and the larger opaque individual pictured (~3mm). The large individual appeared to be attached to the dufours gland.

 

Thank you!

Tobias

Tobias G. Mueller 

PhD candidate, McArt Lab & Danforth Lab

Department of Entomology, Cornell University

[Roulston, T'ai H (thr8z)]

Tobias,

I haven’t seen that one or looked at parasites in Andrena but the structure looks very much like a conopid fly. You might start with the genus Zodion and see where you get.

T’ai

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[Tobias Mueller]

You may be right! 

I was just way off thinking the trachea were ladder arranged nerves... welp. Thanks for the help!