Male Wool Carder Bee
Hi,
I often refer to your website to identify a bug (and have had success with a few I’d been looking for for a year or two at least), and often out of sheer curiosity. I read the post about the Wool Carder Bee recently and thought it sounded cool and decided to keep an eye out for them… Strangely, I saw one on our Bee Balm Flower the next day and took these shots (you can clearly see the spikes on the one from behind). This one is male – the female was nearby but didn’t land within range for a clear shot (no zoom OR macro lens). Hope you like ’em. Keep up the good work!
SJ (Ontario)
Dear SJ,
Like them? We love them. We are so honored that you are allowing us to post your most excellent photos of a male Wool Carder Bee, Anthidium manicatum. We are also providing a link to a Wool Carder Bee site that states: “How common is the Wool Carder Bee? The Wool Carder Bee is quite an uncommon bee, but it is particularly associated with gardens. There has been a dramatic decline in the numbers of most species of bee in the wider countryside. Intensive agriculture leaves little opportunity for wild bees to thrive, and nowadays many bee species are more common in gardens than elsewhere! A sad reflection on the state of our countryside’s wildlife.”
