Melissodes denticulata, m, back, Montgomery, MD
Ironweed specialist. Well at least the female is a specialist in that she feeds here babies the bright white pollen of this group of plants. If you plant Ironweed in your garden Melissodes denticulatus will show up they are that common (ironweed is common too). The male is distinctive because it has pale offwhite instead of yellow markings on its face and those markings don't go all the way to the upper sutures of the clypeus. ... but you knew that. Photo by Erick Hernandez.
We Are Made One with What We Touch and See
We are resolved into the supreme air,
We are made one with what we touch and see,
With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,
With our young lives each spring impassioned tree
Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range
The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.
- Oscar Wilde. Original public domain image from Flickr