Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 8h

Unedited version.

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 8h

When you’re just trying to groom but it’s a rough neighborhood. Presented in scientifically applied SloMoVision. [Leafcutter male aka Mittens vs Agapostemon subtilior male, Alameda, CA 10-7-25] #bees #nativebees

1 2

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 2d

It’s surprising how seldom I see European wool carder bees mating considering how ubiquitous they are around here. But I have seen it more often than usual this year. [Alameda, CA 10-5-25] #bees #nativebees

1 2

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 4d

Soldier ants don’t play around. 🐜

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 5d

Sometimes it is your larvae that are the soil predator. Sometimes another relentless soil predator decides to hunt you and it’s quite the nuisance. Stiletto fly vs ant: the reckoning. [Alameda, CA 10-3-25] #flies #diptera #entomology #ants

1 4

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 6d

I was away out of state for a few weeks (and the end of Summer bee season), but I was greeted by a few holdouts when I got back, like this Western Leaf Cutter female, still getting it done with her one remaining sniffing stick. [Alameda, CA 9-30-25] #bees #nativebees

6

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 21d

I love dragonflies, even though it is always so frustrating trying to photograph them. But eventually with enough patience you can catch fun scenes like "Variegated Meadowhawk and Flame Skimmer are friends". [Alameda, CA 9-14-25] #dragonfly #dragonflies

A Variegated Meadowhawk (left) and Flame Skimmer (right) perching on the same dried plant branch in the grass, facing each other, with green pond in the background.

A Variegated Meadowhawk and Flame Skimmer perching on dried plant branches near each other, facing the same direction away from us, with green pond in the background.

Close up of Variegated Meadowhawk perching on a long curved blade of grass, with green pond in the background.

Flame Skimmer perching on dried bush branch, with more branches and blue pond water in the background. You can see from a nick in the right front wing it's the same individual from the other photos.

2

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 22d

Speaking of the end of Longhorn bee season, here is the most impressively elderly male I've yet seen. An amazing amount of hair loss considering they never go into nests, which is how females lose their hairs (hole/tunnel friction). [Alameda, CA 8-16-25] #bees #nativebees

An elderly male Longhorn bee on a yellow sunflower. You can tell his age from the impressive amount of hair loss and ragged wing edges.

1 6

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 22d

#bees #bumblebees #nativebees

Head-banging bumble bees bite flowers to shake loose more pollen

Slow-motion videos reveal how chomping down on flowers helps buzzing bees transmit vibrations

scim.ag

4

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 27d

The species identity of these gray Andrena bees that reliably fill the local California Poppies every year in April remains a head-scratcher. Double head-scratcher, according to this one. [Alameda, CA 4-26-25] #bees #nativebees

Gray female Andrena bee inside orange California Poppy flower... scratching her head with both front legs. Well of course she's grooming, but "scratching" works much better for the punchline.

1

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 29d

Like other bee nerds around here, I have had unusually few Hylaeus bee sightings this year. There’s no obvious explanation so far. And yes, that’s a Agapostemon subtilior flyby - many sightings of them this year, as usual. [Alameda, CA 9-9-25] #bees #nativebees

2

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 29d

Sphex lucae capture a katydid or grasshopper, paralyze it, drag it into a hole, lay a single egg on it and then close the nest. Then they dig another and repeat the process. Most solitary wasps prefer this method (preferred prey varies).

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · 29d

Some wasps like Bembix wasps do something called “progressive provisioning”, which is bringing their larvae more prey food as needed, but that is very laborious and therefore rare.

1 1

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Sep 8

Usually I see wasps digging nests or going into an existing nest, so it was a fun surprise to see this Sphex lucae engaging in some very different nest related work. [Alameda, CA 9-8-25] #entomology #wasps

1 3 21

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Sep 4

Ceratina small carpenter bee mating is a more complicated activity than I realized before recording this. Many bees do antenna stroking but note he’s also grabbed her back legs with his and is rapidly stroking them with his middle legs. A lot to keep track of. [Oakland, CA 9-1-25] #bees #nativebees

1 6

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Sep 2

"Aw, Damselflies are so delicate and charming!"
"You mean the beasts of the hunt that snatch you from mid-air and eat you alive head first?"
"...that's the ones."
[Oakland, CA 8-30-25] #entomology #macro #odonata

A Bluet perched on a Yellow star-thistle leaf, eating a freshly caught fly... head first, as seen in caption.

1 4

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Aug 31

Ah yes, I had a day of those last June: www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Observations

Paratiphia by Emil Petrinic

www.inaturalist.org

1 1

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Aug 29

The smallest bees also have appropriately proportioned infinitesimal phoretic mites. Look closely at this male Hylaeus bee's left eye. No verdict on whether the mites get shinier as they get smaller. This one is very shiny. [Oakland, CA 7-6-25] #bees #nativebees

A black and white male Hylaeus bee perched on the tip of my middle finger. There's a very tiny (and very shiny) phoretic mite on his left eye, which I didn't see until I looked at the photos full size.

5 26

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Aug 29

Meanwhile on the island we are also winding down to a few elderly males and the occasional female Longhorn bee. You can see this veteran’s age from all the hair loss and his ragged wing edges. [Alameda, CA 8-28-25] #bees #nativebees

3 10

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Aug 27

Longhorn season is winding down. Just one foraging female in the Cosmo patch and one in the sunflower patch this morning on my walk to work. [Berkeley, CA 8-27-25] #bees #nativebees

Melissodes female bee foraging on pink and white Cosmo flower.

Melissodes female bee foraging on large sunflower.

1 3

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Aug 25

“He’s right behind me, isn’t he?” Yes, these are crappy phone photos, but just hum the Jaws musical cue and think of it as cinéma vérité. [Patrolling Western Leafcutter male creeping up on Melissodes longhorn female bee. Alameda, CA 8-25-25] #bees #nativebees

2

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Aug 21

Forever jealous of bees' vastly superior back-scratching capabilities. [Lasioglossum kincaidii, Alameda, CA 8-16-25] #bees #nativebees

Black and white bee on yellow Grindelia flower reaching to wipe pollen from top of torso with left foreleg.

7

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Aug 20

6

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Aug 20

Digging a nest in soft sand is pretty close to trying to make a hole in water, so it’s not a surprise Bembix wasps dig lightning fast and keep testing dozens of spots before they’re satisfied. [Alameda, CA 8-16-25] #entomology #wasps

1 2 23

Hella Bee Nerd @sfbaybees.bsky.social · Aug 19

It's rough stuff, but as always, seeing various organisms that parasitize bees is a sure sign that the native bee population is strong enough to support them, so always a good thing.

3