Journal archives for November 2019

November 26, 2019

Petalcutting bees

Had two interesting experiences with petalcutting bees. One was a bee that must have either worn out her mandibles or was born with defective teeth. She tried and tried to cut some petal pieces from Sundrops but all she managed was to crush the petal.

The first time I saw petalcutting bees was when I was trying to get a big Curly Dock seedhead into a bag so it wouldn't spread seeds all over. It was already drying out and I had waited too long. I cut off the top and got it into a bag, but in the process noticed a silvery-white somewhat transparent looking larvae wigging at the top of the stem. I could see that the dock had nodes like bamboo so I cut below the bottom and took the piece inside. When I cut it open I discovered to my dismay, that there was a group of cocoons made from petals and a small bee that went with them.

Posted on November 26, 2019 06:46 AM by wenatcheeb wenatcheeb | 3 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment