Bee's for ID

tigger · #1 (**permalink**) 18-06-2009, 07:11 PM

Photographed these in my garden today. Can you please help with ID. Thanks. Jane

Osmia Rufa?

Osmia leaiana?

eucera · #2 (**permalink**) 18-06-2009, 08:57 PM

A male and females of Megachile centuncularis (a leaf-cutter)

tigger · #3 (**permalink**) 18-06-2009, 10:19 PM

I think I'm just about getting to know what a bee is and then something else comes out of the blue. I've no excuse though, as I should have realised these were Megachile sp. at least!

Thanks for the ID.

Jane

JRsbugs · #4 (**permalink**) 19-06-2009, 01:06 AM

I had a female yesterday which looked like yours tigger! It looks like one I've had before and never seems to have pollen on it's hairs like M. willughbiella.

This one bends it's abdomen up to about 90 degrees, made it difficult to get a good pic!

Janet

JRsbugs · #5 (**permalink**) 19-06-2009, 01:22 AM

I uploaded a pic, the best I could get! Got a good view of the underside from the back!

tigger · #6 (**permalink**) 19-06-2009, 06:07 AM

Thanks Janet

Also looks like you have a geranium very similar to mine in my top pic...

The thing that caught me out was the fact that these ones weren't sticking their abdomens up in the air.

Your one looks more like a set square than a bee! Perfect angles...

JRsbugs · #7 (**permalink**) 19-06-2009, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigger

Thanks Janet

Also looks like you have a geranium very similar to mine in my top pic...

The thing that caught me out was the fact that these ones weren't sticking their abdomens up in the air.

Your one looks more like a set square than a bee! Perfect angles...

That Geranium is very popular with the bees, a self set from Rozanne I think, crossed with others I have and only in it's second year! It is a huge plant and flowering earlier than others.

Yes I did notice yours seemed to be rather horizontal!

I had a female M. willughbiella just before that one, along with the male, but she only lifted her tail a little compared to that one! For about the first time ever she didn't have pollen on her hairs either!

Africa · #8 (**permalink**) 19-06-2009, 09:22 PM

Great photos Jane. I had a similar geranium, but it is now struggling under the weight of my enormous Jerusalem Sage. Bombus hortorum loves it though, and I a getting very close looks at how it collects pollen from its back scraping it with her middle leggs. I always miss how it gets from the middle legs to the pollen baskets as this seems to happen in the air. Is the 90 degree abdomen some behaviour to get the pollen in the underneath brushes?

JRsbugs · #9 (**permalink**) 19-06-2009, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Is the 90 degree abdomen some behaviour to get the pollen in the underneath brushes?

I guess it is, but I don't think I have seen M. willughbiella lift it's tail so high.

I wonder if it's to do with the type of flower they would visit to collect pollen? Or maybe they don't want to collect pollen so lift their tail higher?

I have a pic from last year of one collecting pollen from a species Campanula, it didn't need to lift it's tail for that.

Davy Crockett · #10 (**permalink**) 21-06-2009, 02:00 PM

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To Bee lovers, I would like to ID the Bees that visit my garden there seem to be about six different ones, is there a good field guide of website with photos