Longhorn?
Sat, 08/15/2009 - 04:33 — Homarus
I'd be grateful for any help IDing some frequent visitors to our sunflowers. They have roughly the same coloration as honeybees, but they're on the small end of the honeybee size range and have longer -- often much longer -- and straighter antennae. Melissodes sp.? Svastra sp.? Lasioglossum sp.? Notworthbotheringus sp.? There are some pics of them in this Web album. They're in the photos tentatively labeled "Sunflower Bee." (Sorry about the photo quality; I'm still trying to get the hang of shooting insects. I'll try to get better pics.)
Melissodes (Longhorn bee)
Yes- you have correctly identified a male longhorn bee. Those really long antennae are a dead give-away, plus longhorns are mid to late summer bees, and so are abundant right now. Look for them on Cosmos and Gaillardia as well. Also, you'll notice that the male has no pollen structures - only the female bees carry pollen. The female longhorn will have nice dark antennae, but her hind legs will be full of pollen - like two saddlebags. Hope this helps. By the way, the tribe is Eucerini, the genus is Melissodes.
Thank You!
Now that you've IDed the little guys and given me a couple ways to recognize them, I was able to zero in using bugguide.net and put a name to some other whatzits I'd photographed -- all Eucerini, including a Melissodes bimaculata and a possible Melissodes Eumelissodes sp. (new pics of each, plus much better pics of that blond-haired species are now online in that same Web album).
Thanks also for the tip about the cosmos and gaillardia. I'll watch them more closely next year (the gaillardia in our garden -- in southern CT on L.I. Sound -- have gone by, and the cosmos are on their last legs). Have you tried planting hyssop? It seems to be a bee magnet -- or it was till this week. Its seeds are ripening now, and goldfinches are starting to feed on them; only a few florets still have nectar. But, all through June and July, the hyssop pulled in a variety of bees, cricket hunters, flower flies, and butterflies.
Longhorns and floral hosts
Wow- I'm new to this site, and wasn't even certain that I'd posted a comment to your inquiry correctly. Basically, a Ludite :). Glad to hear my info was useful. I'm here in sunny Oakland, CA, so we have a longer summer season, I guess. The other plant well utilized by longhorns are coreopsis (tickseed). Flying Saucer is a good cultivar, if it is available in your part of the country. Also failed to mention that the female's antennae are much shorter than the male's - thick and dark, but shorter. I don't know what the protocol is on this site, but I have some amazing pics I've taken of these bees this year, and would like to share them. I guess that the Flicker site is what is being recommended, but I haven't yet tackled that - a Ludite, remember? Do you have any other suggestions as to how I can quickly post about 30 photos of our wonderful natives?
Posting photos
Just to add to what I said below, to use the "attach files" button you have to start a new post; there is no "attach files" or "upload" button available when you comment on or reply to an existing post.
Better way to upload pics
I should have looked around the forum first. Others are saying all you need to do is use the "attach" button instead of the "upload." There may be a size limit. If so, you might have to condense or crop.
The Great Sunflower Project Flickr account seems to be intended for those who photograph while they're counting and can tag the photos to show which bee is which in their sample. There's a message about it here: http://www.greatsunflower.org/en/forum/general-discussion/tagging-photos...
(Quick and Easy?) Digital Photo Albums
Oh, man -- Oakland! From the Bay Area to Monterey, there's nothing as fine as northern Cal. (If only the broccoli fields around Salinas didn't smell like broccoli ... )
We don't grow the flying saucer variety, but we do have morning glories. They're among the last flowers to stop flowering, so the bumblebees visit them a lot late in the summer. And I'll try the coreopsis next year. Oh, one more plant you might want to try: lace-cap hydrangea. It's filled with bees from June to mid July around here.
As for posting your photos, Flickr is likely to be your best bet.
Your other options are more labor intensive: they involve downloading applications, installing them, and using them to make web albums or slideshows. You can get the free Web Album Generator at ornj.net. That's if you're using Windows. Macs come with their own slideshow maker. Jalbum and Google's Picasa are also free, work on Macs as well as Windows, and will prepare slideshows of your photos. Jalbum prepares a combination slideshow and static album (to see Jalbum in action, go back to my site).
Flickr, Jalbum, and Picasa will let you post your finished slideshows to their sites if you sign up. But if you use Movie Maker or Web Album Generator, you'll need to put your finished product online somewhere else. If you decide to go that route, let me know at dmp["at" symbol]saltmeadow[dot]com and I'll see if I can talk you through uploading to the Web.
Coreopsis and others......
Jaz "zee" gardener
Here in Oakland, CA - I've let some of my herbs flower - and the honey's just are loving the oregano....I can't get over it. At any give time I have 10 - 12 honey's gorging themselves on the little 20" plant....then they visit the basil and thyme nearby....amazing.
Herbs, great!
Thanks, Jaz. We usually grow oregano and basil but don't often let it flower. I'll have to make sure we let part of each plant flower next summer. It makes sense that honey bees, after several thousand years of beekeeping, would tend to like the same plants we prize. You obviously knew that already, but I never even considered it.
Good gardening karma!
Jaz "zee" gardener
That is a great observation! Honestly - it is something I should have known but didn't heed. I was following all the other "to dos" for attracting bees - planting lavenders, coreopsis, lantana - I just let the oregano go...quite by accident. I will try to take photos and post them...Meanwhile - I like that idea of always giving a little something back to the bees by letting things flower - good gardening karma!