Triepeolus heterurus, f, back, Yolo Co., CA
Triepeolus heterurus, one of many kinds of Triepeolus in the new world. For some reason, while there are a robust 140+ species in the New World there appears to be only 2 in the unnew world. One in Asia. One Europe. This may be reasonable given that the bulk of Triepeolus are cleptoparasites of long-horned bees in the genus Melissodes (there are many species of those too). And Melissodes do not occur in the unnew world. On the other hand Triepeolus also home invade several other genera of bees, including species outside of the Family Apidae, showing that they are flexible. So, in sum, I posit the hypothesis that the food of Asia, Europe, and Africa (I am ignoring Australia on purpose) does not suit Triepeolus and that is why they are scarce there (note, this in no way demonstrates some sort of "fallen" state of the unnew world). There are possibly other alternative hypotheses and would encourage more hypothisetical expositarianism. "This bee was collected in the California Central Valley in Yolo County for research on small-scale restoration in agricultural areas. Claire Kremen's 10-year study of hedgerows shows the benefits of planting native shrubs and forbs in agricultural areas for native bees. To learn more about the Kremen Lab and hedgerows, see nature.berkeley.edu/kremenlab/" Photo by Brooke Goggins.
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