#valleycarpenterbee

Look at this beautiful boy! I had no idea about this, but it turns out that #XylocopaSonorina/#ValleyCarpenterBee are sexually dimorphic. The females are black and shiny and cool-looking while the males are these adorable blond teddybears with handsome green eyes. I thought he was a totally different kind of bee or something! The males also don’t have a stinger. These bees are mostly solitary and like the name suggests, they carve out nests in dead wood. Photos 6 & 7 are of a female bee I saw about a week ago. The lighting wasn’t as good & she was in a hurry, but you can see how different they look. Both bees were feeding on #CaliforniaNativePlants. #SalviaClevelandii/#ClevelandSage for the male bee & the female was on #KeckiellaCordifolia/#HeartleafKeckiella. #solitarybees #nativebees #pollinators #savethebees #carpenterbee #xylocopa #californiainsects (at Jamul, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBRuPjLDorg/?igshid=sjxaa8bmfg9a

A female Valley Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa varipuncta) feeds on Mexican sage in my garden a few days ago. I was out working to clear up a mass of grass and weeds caused by the rainy year we have had when I spotted her nearly in my face. I took a break and watched for quite a while she fed. This sage was a recent addition to the garden, especially for use by bees and hummingbirds, so it is great to see it being put to use.