Very light facial markings. Was caught in yellow bowl trap
huge pollen sacs full on this one, 3 or 4 here I think, lots bee activity on tall ironweeds in sun
Tentative ID based mostly on behavior. These bees were locked in battle with the Tetragonisca, but seemed to be winning, judging by the number of Tetragonisca corpses left behind.
Bee with parasites
Photos of two individuals. Observed on cultivated red currant.
This observation is for the bee.
Keys discretely to O. cordata via Mitchell (1962), Discoverlife, and Sandhouse’s ancient (1934) key to subgenera and species. Aligns with all available descriptions. Diagnostic features pictured include coarse and often contiguous/confluent punctures of scutum, golden scopa, facial features (including mandible/flat clypeus rim), narrow but definite impunctate area along apical rims of terga, evenly pubescent terminal tergite with fine punctures and without an apical fascia. Several individuals were visiting Penstemon digitalis. They either had deeply yellow, yellow-orange, or even rust-yellow scopa, further fitting with available descriptions.
I also found O. albiventris at this site; I show it side by side a cordata to demonstrate the differences in punctation and size; I also photographed it beside an O. pumila for additional size comparison. Osmia cordata clearly differs from the two, and its mandible (pictured) also clearly fits with the form drawn by Sandhouse (1934), separating it from O. sandhouseae. In the Discoverlife key, sorting by yellow scopa and flat clypeal margin was sufficient to get to cordata. T6 was not fasciate, ruling out conjuncta/subfasciata; the lack of a tuberculate space between antennae also disqualified conjuncta for this series.
I think a first record for TN. However, a certified record occurs just over the mountains in NC (bowl trap; GBIF), so this TN specimen still seems to fill into the range sensibly. Mitchell (1962) says Colorado to Ohio.
This male indeed keys to C. productus by Mitchell (1960): long malar space; basal tergum shining with sparse punctures; punctures of scutum minute and widely separated, spaces between them wide and shining.
S7 also as in productus, the photo I added is pretty poor and gives bad perspective, but at least shows the distinct notch.
Fourth observation of this species since 6/26 on same Nepeta cataria patch (photo 3) near cabins. Park is only recorded iNat location in Westchester for A. abrupta. Have not been able to locate nesting areas. The large shoreline nesting aggregation recorded in 2017 has since been lost to erosion: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/184562063
Would seem that the roadside patch of Nepeta is valuable forage and should be preserved - it has also been consistently visited by A. terminalis. Have asked Park staff to stop throwing cut tree limbs onto edge.
Site of known population. Multiple individuals netted off of American chestnut catkins and observed collecting chestnut pollen. All visible characteristics (see pitting on scutum and T1/T2, form of foveae, etc) match verified specimens taken from this site last year:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/193331980
No other Andrena species observed or captured at this site during our visits.
Lacking two white spots on abdomen.
See notes on previous post:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/228573437
Multiple individuals with identical characteristics observed collecting pollen from American chestnut. Known site for this species. Not an easy bee to photograph! Seen on the exact same tree as all of our 2023 specimens were collected from.
Second year in a row seeing multiple active cuckoo bees parasitizing nests of Anthophora abrupta.
Found at Anthophora abrupta aggregation (within a cliff, side of the road)
Nesting within a Dolomite Prairie.
I know that A. wilkella is the expected Andrena at this time of year, maybe especially on a non-native plant like this wild carrot. But this looks more like a Trachandrena to me -- specifically, depressed apical zones of T2-T4 (photos 5 and 6). Looking through the Trachandrena female guide that Sam Droege provided to the Wednesday online ID learning group, I think A. virginiana and A. miranda seem like the best possibilities. This is based on vertex > 1.5 ocellar diameters, substantial but not extremely long depressed zones of terga, plus time of year.
Osmia conjuncta bee. Lateral view of dead bee in pupal casing taken from snail shell at McMaster forest. September, 2017. Some snail shells had as many as 5 pupae.
Some Butterfly Milkweed at Big River MA with a nectaring Coral Hairstreak and a wasp.
Common Milkweed at Big River MA with a nectaring Delaware Skipper.
Found in a shell under a bush, buried in leaves, was very docile and beautiful. Stayed with me for like 45 mins, crawled out onto my hand to tell me when he had to go, flew similar to a beetle steady n straight.
From mummichog by long snout— many mummichogs at same location
Digger colony; images taken between 9:53 and 9:55a
I saw this lone bee returning to pollinate sheep laurel. There was another one of these bees but it didn't want to be bothered.
@dmantack Any idea if this is the specialist bee? I might have to come out in the morning to see more of them.
I think, anyway. Subject is the insect on the right, being attacked by a Conopid, Myopa virginica.
coastal bluffs, abundant bearberry flowers, no females observed only territorial males
This was on the small area that seem to be the most undisturbed of the sand dunes with a consistency like beach sand and like the sand plain in Bloomfield. It was less a mixture of sand and silt and other fine material. The plant was not very abundant in this area or elsewhere but we did see more specimens up on some of the hills. This one had a single pinkish purple flower. It also had structures that looked kind of like bean pods.
O. lignaria?
Very fast mover, wouldn't pose.
Does the fact that this was blooming in Connecticut on March 31 indicate that it is Claytonia caroliniana and not Claytonia virginica? This picture was taken by Sharon Cappetta.
Orange pollen from Winged Sumac.