To bee or not to bee

[JRsbugs]

Originally Posted by Nick Smith

Here is another I assume is a bee. They love the Magnolias. It stores the pollen under it's abdomen. I think I might have to buy a book to help me identify all the stuff I see and photograph.

That is a Megachile sp., can't say which one though!

I don't have any books, your best bet is to first look at the BWARS site and spend some time looking at some of the pics there, then googling to see what else you can find but beware of that as some sites do not have correctly named bees. You can usually sort out the good sites from the bad after a while though.

[Nick Smith]

Originally Posted by JRsbugs

It certainly is a tricky one still Nick, again the angle makes the abdomen look not as 'curved' on the sides as one would expect with Andrena. I'm looking at the tail tip too, I believe Andrena dorsata has some pale hairs on that and yours does look to have some.

I looked around and found a pic of A. dorsata (if correct!) at the same angle, what do you think?

Andrena dorsata f on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Having said all that, Stuart may be correct, with his experience, but photos can fool the mind.

The flickr image bee appears to be much hairier around the neck and head but not being an expert I wouldn't know. Also you can see the flickr image the bee is collecting pollen where the bees I have seen do not appear to be collecting as such, more like just being covered in the stuff from gathering nectar, although, once again, not being an expert and assuming the bee in the flickr image lives around other types of flowers. [Edit] Actually I just looked again and the bee is collecting pollen it is just so yellow against the yellow flower I missed it. [Edit]

[JRsbugs]

Originally Posted by Nick Smith

The flickr image bee appears to be much hairier around the neck and head but not being an expert I wouldn't know. Also you can see the flickr image the bee is collecting pollen where the bees I have seen do not appear to be collecting as such, more like just being covered in the stuff from gathering nectar, although, once again, not being an expert and assuming the bee in the flickr image lives around other types of flowers.

Bees get worn and lose a lot of their hair, which also becomes very faded.

In your first two pics the pollen baskets are covered in pollen, which is what they tend to look like, unlike bumblebees where they have a waxy lump on their legs.

Bees also visit a variety of flowers, although some do have a preference for a certain species of flower, they will visit a range of flowers.

[Nick Smith]

Originally Posted by JRsbugs

That is a Megachile sp., can't say which one though!

I don't have any books, your best bet is to first look at the BWARS site and spend some time looking at some of the pics there, then googling to see what else you can find but beware of that as some sites do not have correctly named bees. You can usually sort out the good sites from the bad after a while though.

Cheers for that.

[eucera]

The Megachile is a female M. centuncularis. They LOVE Asteraceae flowers!

[Nick Smith]

Thanks for all your help everyone. And as a reward I took these for you.