Osmia calla, f, right, Mariposa, CA
Ah the glow in the dark Mason bees of the West. Very jealous...we don't have this model of Osmia out east. For some reason bright green works for a whole passel of Osmia and the related Hoplitis. Funny how this blingy green/blue/purple invades certain genera of bees and is completely absent from others. What is the driver. I like to think it is bee aesthetics. We are working out our bee prepping these days....a much cleaner specimen, but we are still a bit rough on the wings and clump too many hairs. Collected in Yosemite National Park in California by Claire Kremen's Bee Team. Photographs by Anders Croft.
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