Megachile melanophaea, f, face, Mariposa, CA
A sharp looking Megachile from Yosemite National Park. Megachile melanophaea is a bee that runs all across the arctic, the northern parts of the East and down the mountains in the West. Unlike many northern species is does not seem to be interested in the Appalachians. While I don't know about all its various looks across its range in the Northeast it mostly have black pollen carrying hairs with a smallish patch of ochre/orange hairs....this specimen though is much more extensively in the burnt orange color universe...a nice look I think. Part of Claire Kremen's project in the higher elevations of Yosemite National Park in California.
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