oblique longhorn bee (Svastra obliqua obliqua) female on gray-headed coneflower at Decorah Prairie IA 653A6750
This oblique longhorn is a big hefty and shaggy-looking yet beautiful bee. They are sometimes called the sunflower bee since they specialize in collecting pollen from yellow "sunflowers" but this one is pollinating a gray-headed coneflower, which is in the huge sunflower family. Females will dig a tunnel several inches deep underground before collecting a bunch of sunflower pollen and nectar that she forms into a big ball at the bottom of her nest chamber. That nutritious pollen ball will serve as a food source for her baby since she lays an egg on top and then abandons the nest. After eating its big pollen ball, the larval longhorn bee pupates and emerges from its burrow as a fresh adult the following year when the sunflowers are in full bloom on area prairies.
oblique longhorn bee (Svastra obliqua obliqua) female on gray-headed coneflower at Decorah Prairie IA 653A6750
This oblique longhorn is a big hefty and shaggy-looking yet beautiful bee. They are sometimes called the sunflower bee since they specialize in collecting pollen from yellow "sunflowers" but this one is pollinating a gray-headed coneflower, which is in the huge sunflower family. Females will dig a tunnel several inches deep underground before collecting a bunch of sunflower pollen and nectar that she forms into a big ball at the bottom of her nest chamber. That nutritious pollen ball will serve as a food source for her baby since she lays an egg on top and then abandons the nest. After eating its big pollen ball, the larval longhorn bee pupates and emerges from its burrow as a fresh adult the following year when the sunflowers are in full bloom on area prairies.