Joined: Dec 29, 2020 Last Active: Sep 29, 2024 iNaturalist
Hi, I am an amateur naturalist and high schooler. I am really interested in the native bees (not honey bees) as they are such a diverse group with a major role in most ecosystems. I joined this website to become better at identifying bees, learn what the bees I collect are (likely) and more about organisms in general (through amazing comments and photos by professionals and enthusiasts).
I am definitely still learning and love to hear the reasoning behind IDs of my observations, why I mis-identified mine or someone else's organism, or why someone else identified an organism as something.
some helpful resources in identifying bees:
-bumble bees of the northwest (U.S.) https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a849d4c8dd041c9c07a8e4c/t/5a972630c8302516eb042b33/1519855169929/BumbleBeeGuideWestern2012.pdf
-halictus species of the northwest (U.S.) https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a849d4c8dd041c9c07a8e4c/t/5a9727410d9297d03d5f566c/1519855427669/Roberts+1973+Bees+of+Northwestern+America+Halictus.pdf
-Agapostemon species of the northwest https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a849d4c8dd041c9c07a8e4c/t/5a9727550d9297d03d5f5c20/1519855449274/Roberts+1973+Bees+of+Northwestern+America+Agapostemon.pdf
-genera of U.S. bees (be careful in use as it is more Eastern U.S. biased, still works for the west though) https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Bee_genera
Megachilidae species of the world, with a focus on U.S.A. https://idtools.org/id/bees/exotic/index.php
some tips:
-Only species of honey bee in South and North America is Apis mellifera.
-Ceratina on the northwest are mostly in the subgenus Zadontomerus, except for a small handful that are in other subgenera