A new bee…every day
This isn’t the greatest picture that I’ve ever posted. But it’s really worth seeing. I think it’s a sweat bee – and a metallic one at that. It’s way smaller than a grain of rice – see the second pic with a scale in it – maybe 3mm or so if that. Almost impossible to see as it was navigating the tiny blossom.
Here’s a copy/paste from Wiki re the names of the plant:
Centranthus ruber, the red valerian, spur valerian, kiss-me-quick, fox’s brush, devil’s beard or Jupiter’s beard…
I don’t have very many shots of these. But they’re really cute little ones. Here’s one in flight. Wish the green in the bee were more apparent…but I am a little colorblind so maybe it’s there and I’m missing it.
My bee identification skills are abysmal. Very different green metallic bee today. Note the abdomen vs. yesterday’s bee. The one yesterday was dark and light striped – whereas today’s is metallic. Both neat for sure. Also like the the blossoms side-by-side. Such pretty things – both the bees and the flowers. The pink with the green is a neat touch, too.
The bees have been so attracted to the Gaillardia/Blanket Flowers, that I picked up a couple more at IFA a while ago – and have been waiting for them to bloom. They’ve started up – taller than the ones from last year that you’ve seen lots of. Yesterday, I caught a Sweat Bee (gen. Agapostemon) on one of the new blossoms. Magnificent looking critters. I tried to determine the species, but that confused me and seems beyond my skill level. Ideas?
Not really thrilled about this pic. But it’s interesting nonetheless. Metallic-looking leafcutter doing what it does. In addition to the action, I really like the beeneck. Not something you see very often. Hard to see. Such small critters. You can also see how much of the leaf (rose, if I remember right) it’s chewed up.
