https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/https://www.rawpixel.com/image/8755340
Melissodes manipularis, m, back, sc spring island
A first state record for South Carolina. This is the uncommon Melissodes manipularis. Its a male as you can tell by the very long antennae. This bee was collected as part of a survey of coastal Spring Island by Merle Shepherd and compatriots. There are but a handful of records for this species anywhere, it would be nice to look elsewhere in the coastal flatlands for this and other similar uncommon species.
Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all
Ye know on earth and all ye need to know
" Ode on a Grecian Urn"
John Keats. Original public domain image from Flickr
Public DomainFree CC0 image for Personal and Business use