bees
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Twofers and More
European Paperwasp and Two-spotted Scoliid Wasp. Clouded Sulphur (or is there some orange in there?) and something something skipper. Another skipper, in the background, along with an Common Eastern Bumblebee and a striped sweat bee. Monarch and more Common Eastern BBs. Two species of metallic sweat bees. Monarch and skipper. From the top clockwise: European…
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Nectar “Robbing”
Bee species can be divided up by tongue-size. The Eastern Carpenter Bee, pictured here, is one of our largest bees. But it doesn’t have a big tongue to go with that body size. They’re considered a medium-tongued species. They can’t reach into long flowers. So they cut holes at the base of these flowers. And…
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Real Bees
The Common Eastern Bumblebee is, as the name suggests, our default bumblebee species. Bombus impatiens is found throughout the east-of-Mississippi River region, from FL to NS. Bumble Bees of North America by Williams, Throp, Richardson, & Colla, lists only five color pattern forms (two queen, one worker, two male) for this species. That’s not a…
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A Bee-y Slope
Now, I know some people will freak out over a lot of bees flying around at ankle-height in the spring sun, but if you make sure you don’t step on any of these mounds, you’ll be fine. Not because they’re going to attack you, but because it’s quite rude to stomp on somebody’s nest. (More…
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Orange Pollen
Little flower, big bee. Long tongue into the nectar, anther against the forehead. This Lamium isn’t letting the bee leave town without some pollen. But wait just a minute. This bee has a white face. The only white-faced bee I know is the male Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica), but this one was rather too…
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11th Month Insecta
There are still a few insects in the cold. On Friday, this wasp, bumble bee, and fly were active. There were other flies about, and other impossible-to-photograph diptera, and a lovely leaf-hopper or two. Some kind of gall on a crab apple. Exit hole visible. Remember last January when I found a large cocoon that…
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The Case Against Honeybees
No other exploited farm worker has gotten the attention Apis mellifera has. Our urge to “save the bees” and “save the pollinators” has concentrated on the photogenic and familiar honeybee. They are, after all, a species with the publicity machinery of industrial farming behind them, and the romance of DIY rooftop farming. But we should…
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Flower Fiends
Bumble/Tiger Swallowtail.A true bug, meaning an insect that sucks its food, and an unknown bee. Another bee I can’t identify.Don’t forget the butterflies, fools for flowers, too. One of the sulphurs, I’ve never been able to distinguish them.Whoa, Nelly! Look at the patterning on this Oblique Streaktail (Allograpta obliqua)! Going to work on getting a…
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The Bee’s Tongue
Never mind the knees, how about those tongues? Check out the tongue between the down-turned antennae. (Those antennae, by the way, are hugely important sensory organs: they can touch, taste, and smell.) There are short-tongued and long-tongued bee species.This leaf-cutter bee seems to be tasting this stem.This one explored numerous leaf edges. The tip of…
Backyard and Beyond 