lafiametta's Favorites

No shortage of views but still not entirely comfortable with these to attempt species level

Revised ID: To species after reviewing a published account. Widespread in N. CA with a very good example found to do a visual comparison. Female

Will continue to work on the systematic to confirm ID

These are the first beewolves here. Two species seen previously were on the CA coast.

Revised ID: to species, female. 2nd photo added

Good candidate for this location is P. crabroniformis by visual comparison. However according to a distribution map in CIS 19 published 1975, it doesn't occur in the "Great Valley"

Other possibilities to look into:
P. multimaculatis
Resembles P. crabroniformis but smaller and yellower. Smaller size fits. Good visual match found, female

P. pacificus
Small, 9-10mm, visual match not found

P. ventilabris
Moderate size 12-14mm, visual match not found

P. ventralis
Large, 13-14mm, fall species. Probably can be eliminated from consideration