#droege

This specimen from the West Coast, but it occurs throughout North America.  Photo by Anders Croft.    This bee was collected in the California Central Valley him in Yolo County for research on small-scale restoration in agricultural areas. Claire Kremen's 10-year study of hedgerows shows the benefits of planting native shrubs and forbs in agricultural areas for native bees. To learn more about the Kremen Lab and hedgerows, see <a href="https://nature.berkeley.edu/kremenlab/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">nature.berkeley.edu/kremenlab/</a>

by anna droege Winter 2017

Megachile pseudobrevis has extensive black hairs at the tip of the underside of the abdomen while M. brevis has almost entirely white hairs. There you go. This specimen from Georgia. This shot by Kamren Jefferson.

It is big and the queens are extra beefy.  This is one of the dark bumbles.  More black on the sides of the body and tinted wings.   Bug-wise, it doesn't really get a lot heaftier than this in the North American world.  There are some big beetles but they don't gaily fly around gathering pollen...pretty amazing you big ol' bumbly bee (wow, did I just say that? I will have to watch it or my pontificatory science license will get revoked).Photo by Kelly Graninger.

A lovely reddish haired carpenter bee from Kruger National Park.  Picture by Erick Hernandez.

This makes them identifiable...except for the problem that some of them are not so bright...irritating if you have to identify them...but once you get the pattern you feel a small sense of superiority to those in power in the world who clearly would fail if you asked them to identify an "off" L. coeruleum specimen. So there.  Specimen collected by Michael Veit in transmission lines in CT...

In a rough world where you can be eaten at any moment.  There is usefulness in being able to make self-supporting capsules for your babies with enough food and liquid to last a year.