|
|
Honey Bee
(05/06/2008) photo 10 - honey on the leg?
Sending you some photos you may want to use for your web site.
I am always taking photos of bugs and other things.
I sent you some a couple years ago and so here you are some
more. I know some of them but not all of them.
Enjoy..... Photo taken in Sawyer, Choctaw County, Oklahoma...
Thanks,
JoLynn Mangum
Hi Jolynn,
Just posting your ten wonderful photos would have taken us
hours at the expense of all the other wonderful images and
letters we have in our mailbox. So, we have chosen this very
sweet photo of a Honey Bee and want to comment on your title
"honey on the leg?" Honey Bees injest nectar and their digestive
enzymes produce the honey. Pollen is gathered on the legs
and used by the bees for other purposes. Interestingly, while
at the theater this weekend to see the awesome movie "Son
of Rambow" we were treated to the trivia that honey is the
only known food that does not spoil. 3000 year old honey found
in Egyptian tombs is still edible.
We've
Got Bees!!!!!
(03/26/2008)
Imagine our glee when while we were gardening today, we noticed
this swarm of Honey Bees that had taken up residence in our
juniper bush. Many of our friends know that for ages we have
been saying we wanted a bee hive, but sadly, in the city of
Los Angeles, bee hives must be over 100 feet from the nearest
structure. Such a law makes us want to be civilly disobedient.
We don't know where this wild swarm came from. Elyria Canyon
perhaps, but we spoke to the bees at length, telling them
how much we wanted them to stay and how much they would enjoy
all the citrus we are planting. We also told the bees that
we knew how awful it was to move, and how difficult to find
a place that was nice. We assured the bees that our yard was
nice. It is pesticide free. We would never freak out because
the bees had moved in, unlike so many other people might.
We also sympathized with the whole Colony Collapse Disorder.
We suspect the bees hate getting shipped from state to state
to pollinate orchards, and they would much rather stay in
one place. We also suspect that people no longer "Tell
The Bees" and the bees want to know. We told the bees
that we might try to get some type of hive for them, but we
don't think we can do it soon. We know the juniper shrub is
just a temporary layover. It was comforting talking to the
bees. We told the bees secrets we tell no one.
Sadly, we didn't convince the bees to stay. Minutes after
we finished typing, and moments before we were going to upload,
the bees took off in a swirling tornadolike swarm, only to
disappear to parts unknown. For several hours, stray bees
continued to search for the now missing swarm. Guess the Queen
Bee doesn't wait for stragglers.
Comment: (03/27/2008) Your honeybee swarm...
I am sorry the bees only came to visit and not stay. (Swarms
usually just hang out til the scout bees find them a nice
place to live…like a hollow tree). They do make decorative
hives that hold bees…maybe your neighbors would think it was
just a decoration. You won’t get honey from it, but you’ll
have happy little pollinators in your yard! I say go for
the civil disobedience! (Or work with your city or county
to change the rules!) Have a great day! And happy spring!
Liz
Interpretive Naturalist
Male Valley Carpenter Bee
(03/24/2008) Grizzly Bee?
Bugman,
This thing has been flying around a dedicated area of a guava
tree outside my window all day without taking a rest.
It has to be 2 inches long... What is it?
I live in San Diego, CA.
TN
 
Hi TN,
This is one of our favorite harbingers of spring in Southern
California, the male Valley Carpenter Bee. The golden male
bees with green eyes fly for a short period of time in the
spring and they have a rapid aggressive flight. The black
female bees look like a different species. they have a more
plodding flight and they are longer lived.
Plasterer Bee
(03/22/2008) ground burrowing bug
Hello!
I was just curious if someone could tell me what this little
guy (or gal) is? Is it a bee, wasp, hornet, neither?
He (or she) plays peek- a-boo with me whenever I walk
by, scurrying down into it's little hole in the ground when
I get close, but when I got out the camera to try and sneak
up on it, it seemed to pose for these pictures. Anyway,
I live in Wilmington, NC and would appreciate any info. Thanks!
TC
 
Hi TC,
This is one of our native Digger Bees, but we don't feel comfortable
with providing you with the tribe nor species. We will contact
Eric Eaton to see if he can provide additional information.
Update: (03/25/2008)
Hi, Daniel:
Ok, to answer your questions. the digger bee from North Carolina
is a "plasterer bee" in the genus Colletes. They are solitary,
each female digging her own nest burrow, but they often nest
in dense aggregations that make it appear they are social.
The bee secretes a type of organic plastic with which she
lines each cell in her burrow. The nectar and pollen she stores
for her offspring are in a more liquid state than in most
bees, so the plastic "baggie" helps keep it fresh and fungus-free.
She suspends one egg from the ceiling of each cell, over the
pool of food. The larva that hatches then consumes the meal.
Colletes are important native pollinators of many flowers
and trees, like redbud.
Keep up the great work, but don't forget to rest, too.
Eric
Female Sweat Bee
(03/22/2008) Lovely Green Bug
Hello BugMan! This lovely greenie was perched on an azalea
flower recently in my yard in Gainesville, Florida. I'm
guessing it's either a wasp or a hornet but have not found
a photo quite like it. I was lucky to get these photo's because
a few other's I've seen since like it were much too fast and
not staying still as long as this one did. If you could be
so kind as to tell me exactly what it is I'd appreciate it.
HOPE you enjoy the photo's as much as I have! Thank
you in advance!
Mitzy Hileman
Hi Mitzy,
Originally we misidentifies this as a Green Orchid Bee, but
Eric Eaton quickly corrected us. Here is his comment: "Also,
the green orchid bee is actually a female sweat bee in the
genus Agapostemon. Euglossa are much larger, without the coarse
texture on the head and thorax (so they look very shiny)."
Silken
Fungus Beetle engaging in Phoresy with a Bumble Bee in Sweden
(02/01/2008) Question
Hello,
I heard about your site in German TV and so I remembered a
photo I'd taken in 2006 in Sweden. That little bug is "torturing"
a bumble-bee by pinching its proboscis. Can you tell me what
's happening there? Kind regards
H.Koslowski
Hi H,
You are the second letter we received today that mentioned
seeing our site on television. Our first job is to identify
your beetle. This appears to be a Flea Beetle in the tribe
Alticini,
but we would like verification. Hopefully, Eric Eaton can
substantiate that. This diminutive beetle cannot possibly
think the bee is food, but it might be hitching a ride, a
phenomenon known as Phoresy. We hope to get clarification
on that from Eric Eaton as well.
Hi, Daniel:
That is a really remarkable shot of the beetle clamped onto
the bumble bee! It is not a flea beetle, or any other type
of Chrysomelidae leaf beetle as far as I can tell (flea beetles
get their name from their ability to jump, not because they
are parasitic). I suspect it is some kind of sap beetle (family
Nitidulidae), some of which can be abundant inside flowers.
Eric
Update: (02/08/2008)
Hello Daniel,
I think I have a proper guess what sort of a beetle this might
be! It belongs to the genus Antherophagus (fam. Cryptophagidae,
silken fungus beetles), which has three species in Sweden,
all developing in nests of bumble bees. I think this one is
A. pallens (Linnaeus, 1758) (~4 mm), which is the most common
species of the genus. All species visit flowers to clamp onto
bumble bees to hitch a ride and infest their nests. But the
larvae are supposed to be harmless to their hosts, feeding
on the bees' faeces. So this is a perfect example of a picture
showing the start of a Phoresy! Best,
Bengt Andersson Sweden
Green Orchid Bee
(01/09/2008) Identify Lasia Purpurata?
Hi-
Could you help me identify this bug. It was eating the nectar
from a Desert Cassia. I have attached two photos. I
looked through your site and I thought it might be Lasia
Purpurata. The photos were taken here in in West Palm
Beach, FL. Your site is great and very informative.
Thanks for your help.
Stefanie
Hi Stephanie,
This beauty is a Green Orchid Bee, Euglossa viridissima. This
is a tropical genus but the Green Orchid Bee is established
in Florida and has also been reported in Texas according to
BugGuide.
It is the second photo we have received of this species from
Florida since the New Year.
Update: (03/14/2008) Green Orchid Bee
Dear what that bug I was down if Fl (Broward Co.) working
on a fruit fly trapping program and collected several of the
orchid bees in the traps that you posted in January. This
exotic neotropical bee was first collected in the state in
fruit fly traps. Attached
is just so info that you may find interesting. Pete reported
around the basil plants which makes sense due to the male
was collecting chemical compounds that he uses to attract
females.
Brian Sullivan
PS-You are doing a great job as always
Female Sweat Bee
(01/01/2008) Can you help me identify
I live in south Florida. I see this feeding at the flowers
in our herb garden ... basil
Pete
Hi Pete,
This is a Green Orchid Bee, Euglossa viridissima. This is
a tropical genus but the Green Orchid Bee is established in
Florida and has also been reported in Texas according to BugGuide.Your
photo is quite stunning.
Bee Ball: What are those Miner Bees doing???
(09/22/2007) southeast Arizona, bees
The bees in the attached photos were observed this morning
(late September) at Whitewater Draw in extreme southeast Arizona.
They were extremely numerous (perhaps in the 100s), and spent
their entire time buzzing low over the sandy bare ground,
occasionally dropping to enter small holes, occasionally coming
together into roiling balls of bees such as those in the images.
The animals were dusty gray, quite fuzzy in appearance, each
about 1 cm long. Several other species of hymenopterans, including
velvet ants and other bees, were also present. Can you tell
us what these bees are and what on earth they were doing?
Many thanks,
Rick Wright
Editor, Winging It
Department Editor, Birding
Hi Rick,
We suspect these are some species of Mining Bee in the family
Andrenidae,
and perhaps their Bee Ball has something to do with mating.
We will check with Eric Eaton to get his input. Here is what
Eric had to say: "The bees visible in that image are all males,
vying for th opportunity to mate with a female that has yet
to emerge from a burrow. Virgins are a hot commodity in the
animal kingdom:-) I am not sure of the species or genus. If
this image was taken in the spring, I'd say Centris pallida.
"
Sleeping
Bees
(08/23/2007) sleeping bee aggregations
Hi Bugman:
I noticed someone sent you a photo of an aggregation of sleeping
eucerine bees which were tentatively ID’d as Melissodes.
Enclosed is a photo I recently took of an aggregation of sleeping
male Svastra obliqua expurgata.
Sandy Shanks
Bohart Museum of Entomology
University of California , Davis
Hi Sandy,
It is wonderful having your expert identification to accompany
your wonderful image.
Metallic Green Sweat Bee
(08/08/2007) found this bee?
I am not sure what type or even if this is a bee, but was
is a very pretty one, I have noticed them more and more lately,
is it a coincidence that these bees(?) started showing up
around my yard after for the most part all regular honey bees
have pretty much stopped? I have lots of them around, my daughter
loves looking at them, also I would like to know if I
should be worried about her trying to catch one? Do they sting/bite
Sabrina
Hi Sabrina,
This is a Metallic Green Sweat Bee in the family Halictidae.
They will sting, but it is very mild. We don't know what to
say about their recent appearance except perhaps you never
noticed them before. We have gotten one request recently regarding
why these green bees are attracted to purple flowers and your
image is just one more example of this common occurrance.
Eric Eaton provided this information: "The metallic green
sweat bee is a male in the genus Agapostemon. They are common
and widespread semi-social bees. Eric"
Long Horned Bees. But why the aggregation?????
(07/29/2007) What kind of bees live in my garden, added location
info
Bugman,
I will first tell you that I have taken it upon myself to
see if I can identify these bees myself. I think they
could be the European Dark Bee (Apis mellifera)(?) but the
pictures don't seem to match exactly. The habits of
these bees is also very puzzling. In the evening these
bees all congregate on my Miscanthus grass in my garden. They
cling exclusively to two separate blades of grass and hang
out there. They have not built any structure to live
in and seem to have collected pollen for no reason at all.
They do not seem aggressive but I still used caution
taking these photos (that is why they are not very clear)
because I am pregnant and thought it would be worth the effort
to avoid getting stung by an entire group of angry bees. Can
you help me identify these bees?
Thanks for checking into this, I hope this e-mail reaches
you, I cannot open your websites home-page and have noticed
that the latest request for ID was in '05. Cheers,
Jessica Strickle
Bugman,
I see your website is up and running again and have also read
through some of your scoldings to those who have requested
ID. I am in Washington, IL (middle of Illinois) and
these bees are about 3/4 of an inch long. If you get
a chance to answer this, great! I just thought I might
have a better chance with better information. Cheers,
Jessica Strickler
Hi Jessica,
First we feel guilty that you have called us on chastising
(we like that better than scolding) our casual readership
for not providing us with much needed information. We would
never think to chastise you as your letter is so thorough.
Yes, our website was down as we had internet connectivity
problems, but our Time Warner serviceman, Tom, has assured
us that the problem is remedied now. We believe, though we
are not positive, that these are Mining Bees in the family
Andrenidae. What has us curious is the social aggregation
in a solitary species. We are going to request assistance
from a true expert, Eric Eaton, on this.
Correction (07/29/2007)
Hi, Daniel:
The bees are all males in the tribe Eucerini
(family Apidae), and probably the genus Melissodes, but I
can't be positive. They sometimes congregate like this to
"sleep," gripping a grassblade or twig in their jaws.
Eric |
|
