Posts Tagged: Svastra obliqua

Native Bee, Native Flower, Sunny California

Just a day in the life of a native bee on a native flower in native California. Svastra obliqua expurgata, also called "the sunflower bee," absolutely loves Coreoposis californica, sometimes called tickseed. If you were a plant, would you...

A female sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, heads for a Coreopsis. Both are natives to California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, heads for a Coreopsis. Both are natives to California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Start here...the sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, begins to forage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Start here...the sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, begins to forage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Clockwise works for this sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Clockwise works for this sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Well, hello, there! The sunflower bee, Svastra, looks up at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Well, hello, there! The sunflower bee, Svastra, looks up at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Life Is Not Always Sunny for the Sunflower Bee

Life is not always sunny for the sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua, a native longhorned bee. The gals have trouble foraging when a male longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, targets them. The male M. agilis are very...

A female sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, forages on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, forages on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Life is good, the pollen is better. But that's about to change for this female sunflower bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Life is good, the pollen is better. But that's about to change for this female sunflower bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A bullet of a bee is heading toward the foraging sunflower bee. He means business. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A bullet of a bee is heading toward the foraging sunflower bee. He means business. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Scram! The male Melissodes agilis scores a direct hit on the sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata. This image was shot at 1/8000 of a second. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Scram! The male Melissodes agilis scores a direct hit on the sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata. This image was shot at 1/8000 of a second. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

I'm outta here! The sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, quickly departs for another blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

I'm outta here! The sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, quickly departs for another blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Day 7 of National Pollinator Week: Meet a Sunflower Bee

It's Day 7--the last day--of National Pollinator Week.  Meet a longhorned bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, family Apidae. It's also known as a sunflower bee. "It's a bee that prefers sunflower but will collect pollen from a...

A female long-horned bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, foraging on sneezeweed at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female long-horned bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, foraging on sneezeweed at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

You Can Take That to the Bank!

They're good bees. You can take that to the bank! The excitement began when Martin Guerena, an integrated pest management (IPM) specialist with the City of Davis, encountered a native bee nesting site Wednesday in front of the U.S. Bank, corner of 3rd...

Sunflower bees, Svastra obliqua expurgata, flying to a nesting area in downtown Davis, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Sunflower bees, Svastra obliqua expurgata, flying to a nesting area in downtown Davis, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A sunflower bee delivering pollen to its nest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A sunflower bee delivering pollen to its nest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A pollen-packing sunflower bee making a deposit near a Davis bank. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A pollen-packing sunflower bee making a deposit near a Davis bank. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lindsey Hack (left) and Allie Margulies of the Neal Williams lab, UC Davis, photographing the sunflower bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lindsey Hack (left) and Allie Margulies of the Neal Williams lab, UC Davis, photographing the sunflower bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

People make deposits in this bank, but sunflower bees are making deposits near the bank (left, in the wood chip mulch, circled here by yellow caution tape). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

People make deposits in this bank, but sunflower bees are making deposits near the bank (left, in the wood chip mulch, circled here by yellow caution tape). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Does Sneezeweed Make You Sneeze?

Does sneezeweed make you sneeze? Over at the UC Davis Arboretum GATEway Garden. off First Street in downtown Davis, sneezeweed is blooming and bees and butterflies are all over it. We didn't see any of them "sneezing." :) A female long-horned...

A female long-horned bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, forages on sneezeweed, genus Helenium. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A female long-horned bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, forages on sneezeweed, genus Helenium. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of a female long-horned bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, on sneezeweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of a female long-horned bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, on sneezeweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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