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LinkedInPosts Tagged: Halictus
It's Pollinator Month: No Sweat?
In the sweltering heat of Solano County (100 degrees) during National Pollinator Month, how about an image of a sweat bee, genus Halictus, a tiny bee that's often overlooked in the world of pollinators. It's a social bee that nests in the soil. "These nests consist of a complex of tunnels...
A sweat bee, genus Halictus, sailing over a Coreopsis in a Vacaville pollinator garden. June is National Pollinator Month. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
No Sweat....Just Pollen...
Look closely at a patch of California golden poppies and you may see a sweat bee (genus Halictus) collecting gold pollen. The pollen basket is on the hind legs but you'll see "gold" also dusting the head and abdomen. Native bee, commonly known as "halictid bee." Native plant....
A sweat bee, genus Halictus and family Halictidae, collecting pollen from a California golden poppy, the state flower. Both the bee and the flower are natives of California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A sweat bee, genus Halictus and family Halictidae, rolling in the pollen of a California golden poppy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Just a Sweat Bee Foraging on a Black-Eyed Susan
"Sweat bees have earned their common name from the tendency, especially of the smaller species,to alight on one's skin and lap up perspiration for both its moisture and salt content." So write University of California scientists in their award-winning book, California Bees and Blooms, a Guide for...
A sweat bee, Halictus ligatus, foraging on a Black-E
The sweat bee, Halictus ligatus, moves around the Black-Eyed Susan. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The sweat bee, Halictus ligatus, covered with pollen, takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, munches on a sweat bee, Halictus ligatus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sweat Bee: Overlooked and Underloved
Let's hear it for the sweat bee. It's one of the many tiny bees that ought to be honored and recognized during Pollination Week, June 21-27, but it's often overlooked. We've been seeing many of this species, Halictus tripartitus, in our pollinator garden in Vacaville. It's...
A sweat bee, Halictus tripartitus, nectaring on a tower of jewels (Echium wildpretii) in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A sweat bee, Halictus tripartitus, twists as it forages on mustard in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Dragonfly vs. Bee: Catch of the Day
The red flameskimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata) waits oh-so-patiently atop a bamboo stick at the edge of the pollinator garden. She's in Vacaville, Calif., and the garden she is visiting today is a veritable oasis of blooms: Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia), butterfly bush (Buddleia...
A red flameskimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata) with her prey, a female sweat bee, Halictus ligatus, as identified by Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. The gender of the flamekimmer identified by Kathy Claypool Biggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The red flameskimmer dragonfly adjusts her prey, a sweat bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Beneath all of that pollen is a female sweat bee, the prey of this red flameskimmer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
All gone. The red flameskimmer polishes off the last of the sweat bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
