Melitta melittoides, m, side, Anne Arundel Co, MD
Melitta melittoides, m, side, Anne Arundel Co, MD
Looks just like a "bee" does it not? Not super sexy, pretty plain really. But so very interesting. This is Melitta melittoides. A very uncommon bee. Uncommon because it only feeds its babies the pollen from Lyonia (Fetterbush, Staggerbush if you will). Lyonia is around, but it has the problem that it likes brushy, partially open areas and blooms pretty late in the season when the area is filled with heat, humidity, ticks and few people looking for bees. It also looks a lot like more common things like blueberries. So, we very very rarely see this species, but it may be more common than we think. Or, maybe it is super rare. Almost no one is looking. Collected in a USDA malaise trap in the bottomlands of Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and photographed by Hannah Sutton.
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