Post Aw3lcDj77EuliTYoHQ by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #Aw3fsGlsxp7O4G7u9g by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T12:56:16Z
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The huge carpenter bees in the garden (genus Xylocopa) continue to fascinate me, & this is one of my favourite pictures to date 🙂👍It shows the subtle dichotomy of the gorgeous wing colouring – a bright metallic violet-blue in reflection & a deep crimson in transmission ❤️The light dusting of yellow pollen offsets the otherwise dark head & body nicely 🙇♂️#Photography 📷#BugOfTheDay 🪰#MacroPhotography 🔬#InsectsOfMastodon 🕸️#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
(DIR) Post #Aw3fsI1AKUw1vwHcbw by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T12:58:58Z
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Since photographing these bees, I've learned that it's very difficult to differentiate between the violet carpenter bee (Xylocopa violacea) & the splay-footed one (X. valga), hence the fuzzy ID here.And I should point out that this is a macro stack of two shots, one for the in-focus antennae, & the other for everything else.
(DIR) Post #Aw3fsJ908qnTQWxOSm by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T13:04:38Z
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And although this picture of another carpenter bee is nothing like as crisp overall, I can't resist sharing it too.Not only does it show the wings in their full metallic violet-blue glory, but it also captures a fleeting moment of garden drama, as a small spider crawls on the bee's head & a honey bee cruises in from behind.It just goes to show how big the carpenter bees are 🙀#Photography 📷#BugOfTheDay 🪰#MacroPhotography 🔬#InsectsOfMastodon 🕸️#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
(DIR) Post #Aw3ibAAOZBPOWV7pb6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-07-12T13:48:26Z
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@markmccaughreanRemarkable photo. But I don't think the small bee is a honeybee (Apis mellifera)? It's tiny, adreniform... and I can't find it in the "Common Bees of Eastern North America" ... which makes sense since the large bee is Xylocopa californica I think? Meaning this is a photo from out west.I know that Apis mellifera has many color variations, but this small bee almost has a green/blue sheen and I've never seen that. The eyes also seem too small... but this angle is hard.
(DIR) Post #Aw3ipzsp5A04yPymw4 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-07-12T13:51:06Z
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@markmccaughrean Since you saw it in person do you remember how small it was? Is there another angle? This is driving me crazy. I'm not really good at bees... but this will bug me until I know. It COULD be Apis mellifera. I can't really rule that out... they are kind of diverse in color... but still.
(DIR) Post #Aw3j7nzO2jEDITXcRM by swope@mstdn.plus
2025-07-12T13:54:17Z
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@futurebirdI'm fairly sure @markmccaughrean is in Germany. Maybe that helps?
(DIR) Post #Aw3kxmEFvrcEqmqGci by deborahh@cosocial.ca
2025-07-12T14:14:50Z
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@futurebird @markmccaughrean would apis millifera be so small in relation to a sweetpea flower?
(DIR) Post #Aw3l9rRcMoLYV7r0wC by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T13:59:42Z
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@futurebird As for the carpenter bee, it’s either X. violacea or X. valga, both present in this part of Germany. They’re very hard to tell apart, especially the females.
(DIR) Post #Aw3l9sMgwc05M8Yatk by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-07-12T14:17:05Z
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@markmccaughrean Oh thank god these aren't bees from the US. I was getting so confused! And knowing it's Europe makes it being a honeybee with that coloration make more sense. :)Xylocopa californica is very common and it's a good guess for a big blue carpenter bee in the US. I didn't even start on the spider it might have broken me LOL.
(DIR) Post #Aw3lcDj77EuliTYoHQ by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T14:22:12Z
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@futurebird The spider is likely a small crab spider – we have large Misumena vatia here, & also a much smaller white green one I saw a couple of days ago.
(DIR) Post #Aw3yft09PcuU06bjhg by karhutar@mastodon.social
2025-07-12T16:48:30Z
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@futurebird @markmccaughrean agree, it doesn't look like the regular European honey bee, but it is a gorgeous photo. I've never seen carpenter bee (I'm in Finland)
(DIR) Post #Aw43fm7ZUbsGQsqSCe by va2lam@mastodon.nz
2025-07-12T17:44:31Z
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@futurebird @markmccaughrean I didn't know there were different species of honey bees until I uploaded this observation to iNaturalist and got an "Asian honey bee" observation: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/296313772Aotearoa New Zealand has native bees but not native honey bees. Those are imported. But they're really picky about importing even honey now.
(DIR) Post #Aw5TGlhYhvO1rGNGO8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-07-13T10:05:59Z
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@nellie_m @markmccaughrean Another great photo. Is that honeybee a queen? She looks rather long.