Stranded Social Insects Usually Die Alone

Question: What happens to a social insect, such as a bee or ant, that gets carried a long way from its colony?

Answer: They generally die alone, according to entomologist P. Kirk Visscher of UC Riverside. If a bee, for example, should stumble across another colony, it will try to join it. Occasionally, the colony will accept it, but most often they will kill the intruder.

If the stranded insect is a pregnant female--a very rare case--it might start a new colony. Usually, however, it takes a group of insects to establish a colony, as when a foreign pest establishes an infestation in the United States. The process is made somewhat easier if new groups are brought in frequently, thereby providing genetic diversity, Visscher added.