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Just a couple of days ago, while spring is still starting up here in Stockholm, Sweden, I spotted this little orange fuzzball on a leaf among the flowers in front of my neighbour's house.so I dove down low with the camera. This one is a male red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) and he was probably waiting for the first females to appear (males get out and about first).
So far, I'm quite pleased with the new diffuser.
A male European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) on "his" lamb's ears (Stachyz byzantina).
Since the females use plant hair to line their egg chambers, the males know that if they make a suitable plant their territory and chase away anything that isn't a female of his species, chances are that he will be able to mate with the females when they come there.
A shot of this very same male and a little lady can be found here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53925491555/
Coelioxys Megachilidae
Coelioxys Megachilidae
Anthidium oblongatum
Coelioxys sp.
Coelioxys Megachilidae
Coelioxys Megachilidae
Indians Road area, Los Padres National Forest, Monterey County, California
Megachilidae: Megachilinae: Osmiini
Unlike with most species of bees (there are 20,000+ species in the world), the male of the European carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) is significantly larger than the female.
This is a result of their peculiar behaviour where the males chase away anything that isn't a female of his species from "his" plants. And since when chasing away, size is an advantage, evolution has led to larger males.
But that's not all it has equipped the males with. Since stingers in bees and wasps are modified ovipositors, ie lady parts, no male has a stinger. But some sort of weaponry could be helpful when chasing away other bugs so the males of this species actually have five black spikes on their tail which they use as weapons when defending their turf. They don't really show in this shot, but in part 1, three of them are clearly visible: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53906531828/
Also, today I stumbled on a *really* great video on YouTube about this bee which shows a lot of this in wonderful detail. It's just two-and-a-half minutes long, but I really recommend you to check it out here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX6d7fDbJp8
The European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) belong to the family Megachilidae. These bees don't have the typical pollen baskets on their hind legs like most (but not all) other bees. Instead they have haie on the underside of their abdomen so they gather their pollen there instead.
This is a female and the beautiful flower she is visiting is a house leek (Sempervivum tectorum).
Two more shots of the same specimen here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53854686478/
and here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54291446445/
I really like this species of bee and have an album with 90+ photos of them here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/albums/72157667862870066/
Red mason bee, rosse metselbij (Osmia bicornis, O. rufa)
Megachilidae: Megachilinae: Osmiini
Small mason bee (Osmia), in frost (Belgium, Boom, 15 March 2024).
Fieldstack based on 58 images (fast method, Zerene Stacker, Dmap & Pmax). Sony A6500 + Laowa 65mm f/2.8 ultra macro apo; ISO-250, f/4, 1/800s, -0.3 step, natural diffused light.
Gear & method used: www.flickr.com/photos/andredekesel/8086137225/in/dateposted/
Megachilidae: Megachilinae
Megachilidae: Megachilinae
Megachilidae: Megachilinae
Megachilidae: Megachilinae