Centris decolorata, F, face, Puerto Rico, St. Isabel
Puerto Rico! What a snappy looking bee with its orange, yellow, and glinting blue patterns interspersed with the standard blacks and whites of most bees. How lovely to that this is a bee found in agricultural areas...a sort of Bumble Bee replacement in a land where Bumble Bees don't exist. Collected by Sara Prado in her investigations of agriculture and bees.
The grass so little has to do,
A sphere of simple green,
With only butterflies to brood,
And bees to entertain,
- Emily Dickinson. Original public domain image from Flickr