Giant Resin Bee -- Megachile sculpturalis
I've gotten an ID on this large bee for which I had posted two photos a couple days ago. Since then, I remembered hearing a talk a few years ago from Indiana bee expert Robert Jean, and was fortunate to find his business card that I picked up at that meeting. I sent him photos and asked if he knew this bee. He says it is "a fairly recent addition to the Indiana bee fauna." It is native to Japan and China. I did not ask if he knew anything about how it got to the U.S. I also did not ask if there is any opinion among experts as to whether it might nicely blend into our fauna or if it might become a pest. Hopefully it will not become a pest.
This bee is quite large, being every bit as large as an average bumblebee. However, compared to a bumblebee, its shape is less compactly stout, and more elongate. The head appears large compared to the thorax and abdomen when compared to most typical hymenoptera.
In my prairie/meadow planting right now, the available flowering plants are mostly Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum), yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) and rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium). This bee was working over only the Culver’s root. Although I don’t remember seeing this bee in previous years, there were quite a few of them. Their behavior was quite interesting in that they very slowly and methodically worked their way around the entire flowering head of the Culver’s root, seeming to be in no hurry at all related to the duty at hand. I noticed that many other species of bees and bumblebees visiting the flowers had noticeably full pollen baskets, but this bee was carrying no visible pollen.
Giant Resin Bee -- Megachile sculpturalis
I've gotten an ID on this large bee for which I had posted two photos a couple days ago. Since then, I remembered hearing a talk a few years ago from Indiana bee expert Robert Jean, and was fortunate to find his business card that I picked up at that meeting. I sent him photos and asked if he knew this bee. He says it is "a fairly recent addition to the Indiana bee fauna." It is native to Japan and China. I did not ask if he knew anything about how it got to the U.S. I also did not ask if there is any opinion among experts as to whether it might nicely blend into our fauna or if it might become a pest. Hopefully it will not become a pest.
This bee is quite large, being every bit as large as an average bumblebee. However, compared to a bumblebee, its shape is less compactly stout, and more elongate. The head appears large compared to the thorax and abdomen when compared to most typical hymenoptera.
In my prairie/meadow planting right now, the available flowering plants are mostly Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum), yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) and rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium). This bee was working over only the Culver’s root. Although I don’t remember seeing this bee in previous years, there were quite a few of them. Their behavior was quite interesting in that they very slowly and methodically worked their way around the entire flowering head of the Culver’s root, seeming to be in no hurry at all related to the duty at hand. I noticed that many other species of bees and bumblebees visiting the flowers had noticeably full pollen baskets, but this bee was carrying no visible pollen.