Dirt Bank Dramas

A small patch of bare, hard-packed earth is a fairly rare thing around here.

At least three species of ground-nesting bees were using it.

American Miner is the only one I feel confident about identifying.

Not all the bees make it.

A Pseudomethoca velvet ant, which is actually a wingless female wasp, was most unexpected. First observation of this genus in Brooklyn on iNaturalist.

And, alighting briefly, a Punctured Tiger Beetle, the second iNaturalist record for the county. Or, as iNaturalist IDers are calling it Sidewalk Tiger Beetle/Cicindela punctulata ssp. punctulata, the first observation of the subspecies in the city.