Melitta eickworti, m, right, Rockingham, VA
Another bland Melitta. This is M. eickworti. But! How very interesting. (I could actually say this about any bee, but let's put that aside). It is a specialist on Vaccinium stamineum (Deerberry). It gathers pollen ONLY from V. s. but none of the other Vaccinium's (of which there are bunches). V. s. also has another bee (Panurginus atramontensis) that is a specialist on it. Furthermore, V. s. flowers don't look like the vase-shaped flowers of the low-bush and high-bush clade of blueberries. They are open and don't try to hide their private parts in a vase. Furthering even more, these other blueberries also have specialist bees that go to them but not to V. s. So, why? If you are in the same darn genus then why did do you (speaking of V.s. here) hang out with a different set of specialists?...unless, it is not really a true flag waving blueberry but a berry that should actually be kicked out of the Vaccinium genus altogether. (I have things to say about Cranberries too). Specimen captured by Ellison Orcutt in Virginia and 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