Entomologist fascinated by flies (#Diptera), biodiversity & taxonomy. Telling the story of biodiversity, one species at a time. He/Him. Profile pic: Kerascoët
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ALT three orangey-brown bees on a series of white flowers picking up pollen. one of the three is flying away with lots of pollen on her legs.
ALT American Robin
ALT header image from the banting website featuring photos of three people wearing glasses (three of the postdoc awardees, including me) with text that reads: 2023 Banting Postdoctoral Researchers
ALT A ball of small tan rocks glued together, 5 feet up in a white-thorn acacia (old name). It’s a bee nest! The bee is in the genus Dianthidium, known as pebble bees. I had never heard of them until last night as I looked through my set of Native Bees of the Western United States cards that Krystle Hickman put together (a kickstarter project) that I received yesterday.
ALT One of the cards in the Native Bees of the Western United States volume 1 set by Krystle Hickman. On the left side is a photo of a small black and yellow bee on a yellow flower. On the right side is a photo of the round pebble nest that the females make on a branch (some are on the ground). There is more information on the other side of the card. I had an Aha! moment when I saw one of the pebble nests for the first time today. I remembered seeing the card as I looked through the set, so I was able to partially identify the nest on iNaturalist. I’d have to see the bee to maybe identify it to species.
