''Trigona hypogea'' is a species of

stingless bee Stingless bees, sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (about 550 described species), comprising the tribe Meliponini (or subtribe Meliponina according to other authors). They belong in the family ...

from the

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bi ...

; it is unusual in that it is one of only three known species of bee that exclusively uses

carrion Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures ...

as a protein source, rather than

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametop ...

,Roubik, D.W. (1982)
"Obligate Necrophagy in a Social Bee"
''Science'' 217 (4564): 1059–60. earning it the nickname "

vulture bee Vulture bees, also known as carrion bees, are a small group of three closely related South American stingless bee species in the genus ''Trigona'' which feed on rotting meat. Vulture bees produce a honey-like substance which is not derived from ...

". These bees consume flesh, carry it internally back to the colony, and regurgitate it along with other secretions into storage pots similar to those used by the colonies to store honey; the larvae are fed on this substance, while the adult bees consume the honey.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5601325 hypogea Insects described in 1902