There are back!

This month we have been running a challenge trying to get everyone to contribute at least 50 observations to our various iNaturalist projects. Of course, the prolific @gregtasney has lead the charge with a massive effort with over 600 observations of 222 species, but I believe he has still more to upload. I thought i would take the camera out while doing some gardening this morning and see what i could add to our efforts. I was a little excited as I managed to make an observation of a Blue-banded bee along with a tiny metallic 'bee' ant least thats what i thought it was. Unfortunately, i did not have my Macro lens, I took a few photos and went and got my macro lens but it had gone.


What do you think @kitprendergast?
I have not seen any Blue Banded bees Genus Amegilla in my garden for a number of years, they used to nest on the nature strip but that stopped a little while ago. During the week I saw on my Cycad which was a little exciting. On such a lovely day I took my camera out while doing a little gardening. and was lucky to be able to make my first Observation in my garden while one fed on some flowering chicory.

Blue-banded and Allied Digger Bees Genus Amegilla

It was a strange day I only managed to see one European honey bee, weird hey? I saw many wasps including many White-spotted Ichneumonid Wasp Echthromorpha intricatoria that were too quick to photograph. But several other species I managed to capture including a couple of the introduced African wasp Ctenochares bicolorus and considered invasive in many parts of the world, although apparently mostly in my garden. I am surprised this species is not observed more frequently within Australia

Ctenochares bicolorus

I was attacked by some mosquitoes, Striped Mosquito (Aedes notoscriptus) to be precise so i tried my hand at making an observation while one attempted to bite me. This observation will contribute to our knowledge of the distribution of mosquito species across Australia through the citizen science project Mozzie Monitors - Australia this project is part of the PhD project being undertaken by @larissabrazsousa. Do you get bitten by mosquitoes? if you come across mosquitoes please consider making an observation and contributing to the project, it helps @larissabrazsousa and will contribute to our understanding of mosquito comunities and Publich Health

Striped Mosquito Aedes notoscriptus

Posted on December 20, 2020 01:56 AM by saltmarshsteve