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The Beauty of Native Bees

19 images Created 6 Feb 2015

There is an astonishing diversity of native bees across the USA. About 4,000 species have been identified and catalogued, ranging in length from less than one eighth of an inch to more than one inch. They vary in color from dark brown or black to metallic green or blue, and may have stripes of red, white, orange, or yellow. Many common names reflect the way they build nests: plasterer bees, leafcutter bees, mason bees, digger bees, and carpenter bees. Since most don’t fit the stereotyped image of a bee (black-and-yellow-striped, living in a hive, and apt to sting) they are easily overlooked. Out of sight, out of mind they gently get on with foraging, and in doing so provide the vital ecosystem service of pollination. h/t: http://www.xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/native-bees/
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  • Native bee portrait photographed in late Spring. Western Oregon.
    bee-portrait62612BP1.jpg
  • A native green bee (Andrena ilicis) in flight, Texas.
    flying_green_bee_32909BFHs-177.jpg
  • A leaf-cutter bee (anthidium sp.) pollinating a flower in western Oregon. © Michael Durham / www.DurmPhoto.com
    leaf-cutter_bee-IMG_0751.jpg
  • Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) covered in pollen. Photographed in flight near the north Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee. This bee was large, fast and very aerobatic in the air.
    Eastern_carpenter_bee-62413cb-114.jpg
  • A small sweat bee (halictus ligatus) on flower stamens, Western Oregon.
    sweat_bee-9313HB-106.jpg
  • A digital composite of the same mining bee (genus: Andrena ) in several different flight attitudes. Western Oregon. Photographed with a high-speed camera system.
    flying_native_bee_51510NcB-PN1.jpg
  • A female mining bee (genus: Andrena). Western Oregon. Photographed with a high-speed camera system.
    flying_native_bee_51510NcB-105.jpg
  • A male Eucerine bee, or digger bee,  (Melissodes sp) in flight near Clarno, Oregon. Desert habitat.
    flying_digger_bee_71406BB2.jpg
  • A male Eucerine bee, or digger bee, (Melissodes sp) in flight near Clarno, Oregon. Desert habitat.
    flying_digger_bee_71406BB1.jpg
  • A tiny leafcutter bee (Genus: Megachile) departs a goldenrod flower (Solidago sp.) after collecting nectar and pollen.
    flying_leafcutter_bee_8505LBee2.jpg
  • A small native bee (Agapostemon virescens) on flower stamens. Western Oregon.
    sweat_bee-9313HB-142.jpg
  • A small native bee (Agapostemon virescens) on flower stamens. Western Oregon.
    sweat_bee-9313HB-134.jpg
  • A male short tongued bee (andrena sp.) in flight, western Oregon.
    flying_yellow_bee_52907RF-261-Edit.jpg
  • A rare bumble bee (bombus occidentalis) photographed on Mount Hood, Oregon. Bombus occidentalis was once a common bee on the west coast, but they have virtually dissappeared west of the Rocky Mountains.
    bombus_occidentalis-8713bo4-104.jpg
  • A rare bumble bee (bombus occidentalis) photographed on Mount Hood, Oregon. Bombus occidentalis was once a common bee on the west coast, but they have virtually dissappeared west of the Rocky Mountains.
    bombus_occidentalis-8713bo3-106.jpg
  • A small leafcutter bee (Megachile sp.) in flight. Prairie habitat, NE Oregon.
    flying_leafcutter_bee7406ZBB1.jpg
  • A tiny male halictidae bee approaching a garden daisy flowers in western Oregon. © Michael Durham / www.DurmPhoto.com
    71412PF-189.jpg
  • Not actually a bee - but fly that is a bee mimic. A greater bee-fly (Bombylius major) photographed in the Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee.
    A_greater_bee-fly-62113in-115.jpg
  • Native Bumblebee (bombus mixtus) on a blackberry flower (Rubus armeniacus) - Western Oregon. © Michael Durham / www.DurmPhoto.com
    WildBee_72212BmB-100leaf-cutter_bee-...jpg
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