Kelso Dunes at sunrise

A male Perdita minima is probably the smallest bee I'll ever hold. He's slightly under 2mm, in length, and is the smallest known bee in North America and potentially the smallest bee in the world. One easy way to photograph bees is to put your finger in front of them so they can choose to climb on. It's like a photoshoot on your finger. I decided to try it with this little guy and it worked. He's standing on my fingernail. If you notice, he's angling his abdomen up, exposing a light colored gland, and flapping his wings. I also noticed them rubbing their abdomen with their back legs while doing this. This behavior, besides the leg rubbing, was something I first saw male Perdita rhois doing a few years ago when they were following females around. I thought it might have had something to do with releasing pheromones to attract females. They're able to maneuver the gland on their abdomens so it can be either exposed or hidden under their integument/exoskeleton. I had a conversation with Perdita expert Zach Portman about this. He said, "... I think your pheromone interpretation is almost certainly correct. Interesting, the Perditella (subgenus of Perdita minima) and those little Ventralis group bees (like the Eriogonum socialists, Perdita rhois for example) are relatively closely related. In addition, while most Perdita males tend to be very aggressive when pursuing females, these bees seem to be much less aggressive, and tend to just timidly follow females around, seeming like they are hoping they will be noticed." #cygnustechdiffuser #insect #macrophotography #natgeo #macro #entomology #nativebees #bees #pollinators #insectphotography #flowers #savethebees #insectphotography #bee #insects #bug #insidenatgeo #insectsofinstagram #pollinator #conservationphotography #nikon #perditarhois #perdita #fairybee #worldssmallestbee #Euphorbiaalbomarginata #perditaminima #beesip

This Halictus tripartitus is both a very common and uncommon bee. This species is common because females are regularly seen throughout the Western United States, but the same can't be said for the males. In California, at least, males are commonly seen throughout the central part of the state. Most observations are from the Sacramento area down to where I photographed this one at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in Los Banos. However, observations in the rest of the state are hard to come by. Some bees reproduce asexually. There is some discussion that this is what's happening with this species in certain areas. How do we find out if this bee is reproducing asexually? DNA testing might be an answer. We could find a nest, raise it to see if any males ever get produced, follow the gynes(queens), make sure they don't mate and see if they make new colonies. Also community scientists could help. So, have you seen this male bee? If so, where? #cygnustechdiffuser #insect #macrophotography #natgeo #macro #entomology #nativebees #bees #pollinators #insectphotography #flowers #savethebees #insectphotography #bee #insects #bug #insidenatgeo #insectsofinstagram #pollinator #conservationphotography #nikon #halictus #halictustripartitus #sweatbee #groundnestingbee #burrow #TripartiteSweatBee #beesip

Here is a rare bee called a Brachynomada melanantha. I found him right in front of my parking spot at a wildlife reserve. This reserve was huge! What are the odds? He was a fun challenge to ID. It turned into a team effort. Initially, I wasn't even able to confirm what family he was in. Going back a second day helped since I knew he was a cuckoo bee, which meant there had to be a host bee who was likely in the same family. Male and female Anthophorula chionura are in the second image. I think this bee is likely the host. There were a lot of them in the exact spot where I found the Brachynomada. Thanks, John Ascher, for the A. chionura species ID. I was looking for bees that parasitize Anthophorula or A. chionura and getting nowhere on the genus of the cuckoo bee. Turns out the genus Brachynomada has hosts in the tribe Exomalopsini, which Anthophorula is in. I have to thank Dr. James Hung for that bit of information. Anyway, I was able to get what I think is the correct species ID based on the two submarginal cells on the wings and location. One very interesting thing about this bee is according to the key "Contributions toward a revision of the new world Nomadine Bees. 2. The genus Melanomada" by Snelling and Rozen the exact host bee is unknown. I didn't see Brachynomada females entering burrows, but Anthophorula or Anthophorula chionura seem to be likely host candidates. #cygnustechdiffuser #insect #macrophotography #natgeo #macro #entomology #nativebees #bees #pollinators #insectphotography #flowers #savethebees #insectphotography #bee #insects #bug #insidenatgeo #insectsofinstagram #pollinator #conservationphotography #nikon #brachynomada #brachynomadamelanantha #cuckoobee #kleptoparastic #cleptoparasitic #anthophorula #anthophorulachionura #beesip

Halictus ligatus is a very common bee, but this is my first time seeing one of their burrows. These bees are generally eusocial meaning they can live in colonies like honey bees or bumble bees. All of the bees coming out of this burrow are workers which means they're also female. None of them looked like the foundress/queen. So, I'm guessing she's still in there. What's also interesting about this species is that some colonies have more than one foundress/queen. Also, they can nest in aggregations where different colonies create burrows next to each other. It's a bit like a neighborhood; each burrow is a house with a family. #cygnustechdiffuser #insect #macrophotography #natgeo #macro #entomology #nativebees #bees #pollinators #insectphotography #flowers #savethebees #insectphotography #bee #insects #bug #insidenatgeo #insectsofinstagram #pollinator #conservationphotography #nikon #halictus #halictusligatus #sweatbee #groundnestingbee #burrow #ligatedfurrowbee #insidenatgeo #beesip

I absolutely love being surprised by a bee! This one really got me. While I was in the Siskiyou Mountains last month, I saw this bee a couple of times and was so confused by what I was seeing. I thought, "This bee looks like a Hylaeus, but those bees have yellow/white markings." Heck! Even the common names for Hylaeus are either masked bee or yellow-faced bee because of the markings on their faces. Thankfully, I took a couple of ID photos. It turns out this is an all black Hylaeus. As far as I'm aware there are only two known species with wholly black females in the US and Canada. This one is H. basalis. The other smaller one is H. nunenmacheri. Maybe these can be called Maskless Bees. Also, check out the male in the third photo. The first segment of his antennae, called the scape, are huge! That's how I matched the male up with the female. Special thanks to Dr. James Hung for sending me "Studies on North American Bees of the Genus Hylaeus..." by Roy R. Snelling to get the species ID. See the fourth and fifth photos for the more common markings of a male and female. #cygnustechdiffuser #insect #macrophotography #natgeo #macro #entomology #nativebees #bees #pollinators #insectphotography #flowers #savethebees #insectphotography #bee #insects #bug #insidenatgeo #insectsofinstagram #pollinator #conservationphotography #nikon #hylaeus #hylaeusbasalie #yellowfacedbee #maskedbee #siskiyoumountains #cactus #insidenatgeo #beesip

Megandrena is a genus of mining bees that only has two species. Featured is one of those species: Megandrena enceliae. I found them in the Mojave Desert a little over a month ago. The first photo features two males, one of which had just woken up in a Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii.) Males were easy to photograph because they flew slowly and frequently perched on stems. During the day, the males patrolled Smoketrees (Psorothamnus schotti), where the females (second photo) foraged. Males could reliably be found sleeping in the same flowers night after night. While the ground-nesting females slept in their burrows. #cygnustechdiffuser #insect #macrophotography #natgeo #macro #entomology #nativebees #bees #pollinators #insectphotography #flowers #savethebees #insectphotography #bee #insects #bug #insidenatgeo #insectsofinstagram #pollinator #conservationphotography #nikon #megandrena #megandrenaenceliae #miningbee #smokebush #hedgehodcactus #cactus #psorothamnus #echinocereus

I've had a lot of fun playing around with a shallower depth of field lately.  These are some unedited examples. Not sure it's something I'll stick with, but I really like the way it makes the backgrounds look.  What do you guys think? Featured are a male (first photo) and female (second and third photo) Pseudomacrotera turgiceps. These bees were super calm and very easy to photograph.  I've seen them, in large numbers, twice over the last few weeks visiting Smoketrees (Psorothamnus schotti). A big thank you goes to Zach Portman for the species ID and the information below. Pseudomacrotera was a subgenus of Perdita, but a recent publication raised it to its own genus.  They've been observed gathering pollen on Psorothamnus, Larrea, and Eucnides, which could mean they're more than one species that just look very similar.  The males are interesting because the head size varies so much, as they go from little blue-headed males all the way up to giant brown-headed males. #cygnustechdiffuser #insect #macrophotography #yourshotphotographer #macrogrammers #natgeo #macro #snagnation #entomology #macrothopy #nativebees #bees #pollinators #insectphotography #macromood #flowers #savethebees #insectphotography #bee #insects #bug #natgeowild #insectsofinstagram #pollinator #conservationphotography #nikon #perdita #pseudomacrotera #pseudomacroteraturgiceps #smokebush #insidenatgeo

Over the weekend, I found a lot of Calliopsis puellae nesting on a dirt road.  I think they could win the award for the best disguised burrow entrance.  Here's a female exiting her burrow. #cygnustechdiffuser #insect #macrophotography #macrogrammers #natgeo #macro #snagnation #entomology #nativebees #bees #pollinators #insectphotography #macromood #flowers #savethebees #insidenatgeo #Calliopsis #calliopsispuellae #nomadopsis #beesip #conservation

I had a wonderful time yesterday exploring the Topatopa Mountains with @condors_rest Saw this cool little Melecta bee while there and spent last night reading up on them. Before yesterday I though all cuckoo bees in the tribe Melectini behaved the same. The cuckoo bee lays an egg in their host bee's burrow and tries to escape before the host bee catches them. Their egg then hatches and consumes the host bee's egg or larva along with the provisioned pollen. Melecta separa, who is a parasite of Anthophora edwardsii bees, does things a bit differently. To describe what's happening in the video here's the Abstract from, "Ecology and Behavior of Melecta separata callura (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae)" by Robbin Thorp, "Melecta separata callura... behaves similarly to its European congeners, but differently from other North American parasitic melectine and nomadine bees. Unique features include: digging through the soil plug of the completed host burrow; opening a small hole in the cap of the cell; ovipositing through this opening and attaching its egg to the roof or upper cell wall; resealing the cell; and replugging the host burrow." #cygnustechdiffuser #insect #macrophotography #macrogrammers #natgeo #macro #snagnation #entomology #macrothopy #nativebees #bees #pollinators #insectphotography #macromood #flowers #savethebees #insectphotography #bee #insects #bug #natgeowild #insectsofinstagram #pollinator #conservationphotography #nikon #melectaseparatacallura #melecta #anthophora #anthophoraedwardsii #insidenatgeo

I am excited to announce that I have received a grant from @insidenatgeo ! As a #NatGeoExplorer I will be creating a book that features original photographs and documents rare native bees throughout California. Learn more about my work in the link in my bio. Photo credit: @bvanderbrug