#resinbee

Megachile exilis - Megs are most famous for being leaf cutters, but some are not (leaf cutters that is).  M. exilis is not and instead makes its nest with reason (actually I meant to say "resin", but since "reason" makes for an interesting sentence, I am going to leave it in there because, after all, it is our lab's Flickr stream and not the Wall Street Journal for God's sake) and since it is not in the business of cutting leaves it has lost the little knives that serrate the mandible edges, for something plainer.  Collected in the Neck district of Talbot County, Maryland.   Photos by Mr. Wayne Boo.

The darkest day of the year calls for a super bright image. Here is a Heriades resin bee on a California poppy, shot around the last solstice.~~~~~~~#resinbee #heriades #caiforniapoppy #eschscholziacalifornica #natgeoyourshot #mat_macro_bees https://www.instagram.com/p/BrrNhH5BXDK/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=k0oney5bcuyi

Dianthidium resin bee on a cosmos flower. Hunchy, loveable and colorful bees that unlike most bees are actually black and yellow. They hold their wings out when walking and so are pretty easy to recognize at a glance. ~~~~~~~~~~#dianthidium #resinbee #mat_macro_bees #cosmosflower #pollinators

A Dianthidium resin bee on sea holly (Eryngium plenum). When someone asks me to recommend a "magic plant" for bee gardening, it is this one. I could sit all day watching my patch of it. On virtually every flower there's some type of pollinator and the competition is fierce to get to it. In addition, it's exceptionally beautiful. #bees #insects #nature #bugs #polllinators #insects_of_our_world #macroclique #show_us_macro #seaholly #eryngium #dianthidium #resinbee #pollinatorgarden #beegarden #beesofinstagram #canon35mmf28isstm #canon35mmmacro

Small resin bee (Heriades spp.) ambling along the flowers of an anise hyssop plant (Agastache foeniculum). These bees are closely related to mason and leafcutter bees, and much like their cousins, they can be coaxed to board a bee hotel. In some places with their preferred plants they can be exceptionally numerous. Fast and erratic fliers, when in large numbers these bees can form what could easily be mistaken as a "swarm of gnats." #bees #insects #pollinators #heriades #resinbee #smallresinbee #wildbee #bug #macrophotography #macro_x #macroworld_tr #insects_of_our_world #kings_insects #macro_mood #macro_perfection #beesofinstagram #hyssop #macroclique #mat_macro #buzz #blackbee

Resin bee (Heriades spp.) on butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). Generalist bees the Heriades are, but with a sweet tooth for milkweed. #bees #bugs #insects #pollinators #milkweed #asclepiastuberosa #heriades #orange #flowers #resinbee

Heriades resin bee on Eryngium agavifolium. ~~~~~~~~~#heriades #resinbee #eryngiumagavifolium #pollinators #mat_macro_bees