Posts Tagged: long-horned bee

How to Plan a Menu for a Crab Spider

Dear Crab Spider, Please don't eat the pollinators. You may help yourself to a mosquito, a crane fly, a lygus bug, an aphid, and a katydid, not necessarily in that order. And more than one if you like. In fact, how about an all-you-can-eat buffet of...

A crab spider dines on a sweat bee, a female Halictus tripartitus (as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A crab spider dines on a sweat bee, a female Halictus tripartitus (as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Missed! A male long-horned bee, probably Melissodes agilis, eludes the crab spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Missed! A male long-horned bee, probably Melissodes agilis, eludes the crab spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A crab spider on top of the world, the cone of a petal-less blanket flower (Gaillardia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A crab spider on top of the world, the cone of a petal-less blanket flower (Gaillardia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hey, I can wait all day. And I will. I'm a Wait Watcher. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hey, I can wait all day. And I will. I'm a Wait Watcher. (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)

'Bee a Scientist' on May 8

Get ready! It's almost time to count the pollinators! The University of California's Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) wants you set aside three minutes on Thursday, May 8 and count the pollinators wherever you live--and they live--in...

A male longhorned bee, Melissodes communis, as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A male longhorned bee, Melissodes communis, as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A male green metallic sweat bee Agapostemon texanus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A male green metallic sweat bee Agapostemon texanus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

European wool carder bee, Anthidium manicatum, in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

European wool carder bee, Anthidium manicatum, in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bee, Apis mellifera, on a begonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bee, Apis mellifera, on a begonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Long-Horned Bee

We have long-horned cattle and long-horned grasshoppers. How about long-horned bees? It's National Pollinator Week and what better time to run some photos of long-horned bees from the genus Melissodes? These males (below) are...

Male long-horned bee, genus Melissodes, probably Melissodes communis, as identified by Robbin Thorp. It is on salvia (sage). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Male long-horned bee, genus Melissodes, probably Melissodes communis, as identified by Robbin Thorp. It is on salvia (sage). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of long-horned bee, a male Melissodes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of long-horned bee, a male Melissodes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Up, up and away. Male Melissodes, long-horned bee, over salvia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Up, up and away. Male Melissodes, long-horned bee, over salvia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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