Tag: asters
-
Eight-spotted fairy bee (Perdita octomaculata)
Andrenidae > Perdita > Perdita octomaculata Eight-spotted fairy bee (Perdita octomaculata) is a habitat specialist, found in seas of sand and asters. Search for this tiny, distinctive bee near deep sand like coastal dunes or inland sand quarries where you will find males and females on goldenrods and asters. This species is by far the…
-
Carpenter-mimic leafcutter bee (Megachile xylocopoides)
Megachilidae > Megachile > Megachile xylocopoides Carpenter-mimic leafcutter bee (Megachile xylocopoides) is a large, glossy black megachilid. It can be found throughout the summer on asters like coreopsis, sunflowers, and goldenrods in gardens and backyards. M. xylocopoides is a straightforward field identification: it hardly resembles another megachilid in the northeast. Rather, its model is the…
-
Pugnacious leafcutter bee (Megachile pugnata)
Megachilidae > Megachile > Megachile pugnata Pugnacious leafcutter bee (Megachile pugnata) is a sunflower bee through and through. This distinctive, large megachilid is common in summer on composite asters in gardens, backyards, and agricultural fields. It has a particularly large head, including a genal tooth (like Halictus ligatus/poeyi), which sets it apart from close relatives…
-
Oblong woolcarder bee (Anthidium oblongatum)
Megachilidae > Anthidium > Anthidium oblongatum Oblong woolcarder bee (Anthidium oblongatum) thrives in human-disturbed landscapes like roadsides, backyards, and the margins of agricultural fields. This exotic anthidiine has a strong preference for exotic legumes like birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and crownvetch (Securigera varia). This bee is distinctive with a squat build, green eyes, orange tegulae,…
-
Painted dark bee (Stelis louisae)
Megachilidae > Stelis > Stelis louisae Louisiana painted-dark bee (S. louisae) is a colorful and distinctive member of an otherwise rare and poorly understood group of megachilid cuckoos. S. louisae is thought to predominately parasitize nests of megachilids that line their nests with tree resin: Megachile campanulae in New England and M. exilis in mid-Atlantic…
-
European small-woolcarder (Pseudoanthidium nanum)
Megachilidae > Pseudoanthidium > Pseudoanthidium nanum European small-woolcarder (Psuedoanthidium nanum) is found on small weedy asters growing in cracks in the sidewalk. This exotic species thrives in the most industrial and urbanized places. P. nanum is a recent arrival in the northeast, but has since spread to major population centers along the eastern seaboard. Phenology…
-
Sunflower burrowing-resin bee (Paranthidium jugatorium)
Megachilidae > Paranthidium > Paranthidium jugatorium Sunflower burrowing-resin bee (Paranthidium jugatorium) is an uncommon, distinctive bee found on sunflowers. P. jugatorium is common in both forests and nearby gardens within their range, but in the northeast, this range is seemingly restricted to high-elevation alkaline soils such as the Berkshires in Massachusetts or the Green Mountains…
-
Coelioxys dolichos
Megachilidae > Coelioxys > Coelioxys dolichos Coelioxys dolichos is a big, distinctive sharptail of the southern US. Oddly enough, this cuckoo bee looks a bit like its host Megachile xylocopoides—glossy dark all over with purplish wings held out at an angle. C. dolichos just creeps into the northeast region in Maryland and southern New Jersey,…
-
Tricolored bumble bee (Bombus ternarius)
Apidae > Bombus > Bombus ternarius Tricolored bumble bee (Bombus ternarius) is hard to miss. Its striking black, yellow, and orange patterning separates are more reminiscent of bumble bees of the western United States than most of our eastern fauna. B. ternarius is widespread, common, and particularly adaptable in suburban and urban areas, though it…
-
Lunate longhorn-cuckoo bee (Triepeolus lunatus)
Apidae > Triepeolus > Triepeolus lunatus Lunate longhorn-cuckoo (Triepeolus lunatus) is a distinctive cuckoo bee of agricultural fields, gardens, and cities. It is active in summer, well-timed to co-occur with its presumed eucerine host Melissodes bimaculatus. T. lunatus has a preference for nectar from summer-blooming Asteraceae in the garden like black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia) and coneflowers…