Green-eyed Flower Bee (f)
Green-eyed Flower Bee / anthophora bimaculata. Minsmere, Suffolk. 23/07/20.
'ARRIVING SAFELY BACK HOME.'
I remember thinking this diminutive bee could have easily sat on my little fingernail with room to spare! Small though she was, her shrill hum was HUGE ... and ear-piercing!
She had made her nest burrow in a slight sandy slope beneath some grasses. Perhaps their roots added stability to it? I noticed others had located in similar places, although it didn't seem to be an exclusive practice.
This female would have sealed up the entrance to her burrow before she left it. On returning, I had watched her flying in ever decreasing circles until she had located the exact spot. In the image, she had just landed and had the task of digging the sandy grains out before she could enter.
Her excavating method was fascinating and done in a set style that never altered :-
* she stood and raised her body up on her middle set of legs
*she dug the sand grains out with her front set of legs
*she pushed away the excavated grains with her back legs.
BEST VIEWED LARGE.
Green-eyed Flower Bee (f)
Green-eyed Flower Bee / anthophora bimaculata. Minsmere, Suffolk. 23/07/20.
'ARRIVING SAFELY BACK HOME.'
I remember thinking this diminutive bee could have easily sat on my little fingernail with room to spare! Small though she was, her shrill hum was HUGE ... and ear-piercing!
She had made her nest burrow in a slight sandy slope beneath some grasses. Perhaps their roots added stability to it? I noticed others had located in similar places, although it didn't seem to be an exclusive practice.
This female would have sealed up the entrance to her burrow before she left it. On returning, I had watched her flying in ever decreasing circles until she had located the exact spot. In the image, she had just landed and had the task of digging the sandy grains out before she could enter.
Her excavating method was fascinating and done in a set style that never altered :-
* she stood and raised her body up on her middle set of legs
*she dug the sand grains out with her front set of legs
*she pushed away the excavated grains with her back legs.
BEST VIEWED LARGE.