Defender - _TNY_8655
This is a female annulate masked bee (Hylaeus annulatus). She has found a good spot to lay her eggs in a hole right above the garage door at my mother-in-law's place.
So far so good, but unfortunately for her, there are parasites out and about.
She was standing like this outside the hole for quite some time and I think it is because of the Gasteruption boreale parasitic wasps which also hang around the smae place and which I think parasitize this species and lay their own eggs on top of the bee's and the resulting larvae then kills the bee's larvae.
I actually found a couple of those wasps right next to this and managed a couple of shots, like this one: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52182315301/
Defender - _TNY_8655
This is a female annulate masked bee (Hylaeus annulatus). She has found a good spot to lay her eggs in a hole right above the garage door at my mother-in-law's place.
So far so good, but unfortunately for her, there are parasites out and about.
She was standing like this outside the hole for quite some time and I think it is because of the Gasteruption boreale parasitic wasps which also hang around the smae place and which I think parasitize this species and lay their own eggs on top of the bee's and the resulting larvae then kills the bee's larvae.
I actually found a couple of those wasps right next to this and managed a couple of shots, like this one: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52182315301/