Colletes validus, f, face, Providence Co., RI
A blueberry specialist. Look how long that face is...The space between the mandible and the eye is what bee heads often use to separate species. This Colletes validus has a huggggggeeee malar space...other Colletes species essentially have none, the mandible being directly at the base of the eye. Why? Likely because the only flower this species regularly visits for pollen is Vaccinium...the blueberries. They have a very deep tube like corolla and this face help them get in there for nectar, particularly important given their short tongues. Collected by Zach Scott during a study of .... blueberry pollination in Rhode Island. Picture by Kelly Graninger.
Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all
Ye know on earth and all ye need to know
" Ode on a Grecian Urn"
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