(Battle Hymn of the Republic plays in the background)

This is my friend Krystle Hickman’s gorgeous new book, which arrived today. Krystle is one the best, most dedicated photographers I know and a real inspiration to me. She is self taught and passionate, and has documented several previously undocumented behaviors. Buy this book! 🐝🐙🌿📷#invertebrates

New: After a long wait, the GRFP solicitation is live! Deadlines have been extended to early November, so applicants have a bit over a month to submit. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

What a treat to watch this leafcutter bee bring the petals of a blanketflower back to line her nest, transforming a drainage hole into its own kind of bloom.
#bees #Inverts

I cannot overstate how remarkable it is that under GOP rule, US federal health regulations have been captured by fringe crackpots who espouse views that the vast majority of the US public—and nearly 100% of health professionals—reject.

Gift link:

Interesting new study documenting the only rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) overwintering observation:

scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol58/i...

Researchers at Xerces & @unevadareno.bsky.social tested the plants butterflies use in two major cities—nearly all had pesticides, many at lethal levels. Every step to reduce pesticide use is a win.
Learn more ➡️ xerces.org/news/organiz...
Find safer alternatives to pesticides ➡️ xerces.org/pesticides

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

It's a male Golden northern bumblebee (Bombus fervidus). A good bee.

A perfect fuzzy boy from today (leafcutter bee, Megachile latimanus)

Extremely interesting opinion piece by MacIvor & Irwin on "Mail-order solitary bee cocoons as a gateway for biological invasion": doi.org/10.26786/192...

Another hidden treasure from Waikamoi: Hyleaus volitalis, a species of Hawaii-endemic yellow-faced bee. (No yellow face on this one, she's female). These bees usually hold their wings close against the body, glad this one decided to show off her colors... #invertebrates #Hawaii 📷🌿🐙

So many resin bees today! This nugget was very excited about some St John's Wort.

An antennal cleaner, they run their antennae through them

It's always worth looking closer.🐙🌿🧵 Late this afternoon I saw a small male green sweat bee in the grass. He was near a flower, but seemed to be trying - not totally successfully - to cling to a thread-thin piece of grass, maybe to roost for the night. I took photos as he clambered around, but--

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

this now brings us up to six (!) grand jury refusals to charge (that we know about), plus two cases filed as part of the dc surge dismissed on the us attorney's office's request

Alright, you all have to stop and appreciate this stunning little dude. The blue eyes, fuzzy sideburns, and cute little bee feet. These longhorn bees are typically energetic and skittish, but Mr. Handsome must've been napping. A great opportunity for a nice portrait.
(Melissodes denticulatus) PA

Check out those antlers!
#bees #insects #inverts #macromonday #bloomscrolling #flowerreport #pnw #garden #photography #eastcoastkin

First Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae) that I've seen in our #Staffs garden this year; a male. Lots of other invertebrates on the Ivy too, showing what in important resource it is. #bees #SolitaryBees #pollination #macro #photograph #biodiversity

6/6 Overall I think this study is encouraging for bees because it shows that simply putting in pollinator plantings will benefit bees and you don’t need to worry too much about getting everything perfect with the initial planting.

5/ The lack of effect of site size and seed mix type could be because the plantings are all new and even the large ones are relatively small (sites ranged from 2.47–6.43 ha). It would be nice to revisit the sites after a longer period to see if they end up with different bees.

4/ The downside is that bee fauna found in the pollinator plantings is dominated by a set of common bee species.

2/ The goal of the project was to test whether site size or seed mix type impacted the bees supported by pollinator plantings, but it turned out neither of those had any significant effect. A positive takeaway is that it shows that if you just put in pollinator plantings, they will support bees.