Listen, I know my photography is not the best, but I’m all about learning. I have a friend who refuses to do anything unless she is the best right away; she won’t go swing dancing or rock climbing with me because she’s afraid of embarrassing herself. I’m just the opposite. I embarrass myself every day. I’m terrible at everything at first, and then I just keep on plugging. Because it is fun to learn!
Hopefully, I’ve made progress over the years. That is my main goal. I hope you like them; I want to show you how beautiful these creatures are. I’m quite partial to bees myself, and I think people underestimate their diversity. There are nearly 20,000 species worldwide. Far more than just your friendly honey bee!
Here are some shots I’ve taken just this summer (so far) of wild bees. There is a high probability that I will post more as the summer continues. Maybe I will even get better at photographing them!
Lasioglossum sp. Lasioglossum is the largest of all bee genera and (in my opinion) the hardest to identify to species.
Lasioglossum sp. Helpfully demonstrating her tongue (which assists in identification).
Lasioglossum sp. Face view, on Woad (Isatis tinctoria)
Lasioglossum sp. Bee pretty!
Tricked ya! This is a bee mimic, a fly of the family Syrphidae. I love how he/she/it looks like he/she/it is taking the anther in hand to sip from like a tea cup.
Anthidium manicatum on a mint. This is an introduced leaf cutter bee. Common name is European wool carder bee because it collects fuzz from plants to line its nests.
I see you hiding under there, little humble bee (Bombus griseocollis) I caught her in the middle of a nap, methinks.
How is it that she gets to nap while we are all working so hard?!
These are actually brilliant photos, I know from hundreds of blurry attempts how hard it is to catch the ladies at their work. Looking forward to seeing more!
Thanks so much! They are wiggly, aren’t they? I have to take a million before I can get them in focus.
Gorgeous! You must have a great lens and the perfect eye to wield it!
As always, you are too kind to me! I actually wrote a grant to get this camera for my lab. What kind of camera do you use?
Just a Canon digital with a 70-210 zoom. I’ve had it several years, so it isn’t the latest/greatest, but I love the lens. It can’t do what yours can. Holy cow! Good job acquiring such a nice piece of equipment. Although you mentioned needing a grant to buy it, you still didn’t mention the size….
Oops! It is a Tokina 100mm lens. I got it for measuring leaf and floral area, but it is also useful for these kinds of bee identification photos. It doesn’t have any zoom, sadly.
I loved the photographs. It is so nice to have the ID and information on the bee with the photograph.
Thank you! It is good practice for me to identify them from photographs, since it is much more difficult if I don’t have them under a microscope. I’m very glad you like them; they are beautiful creatures.
beautiful
Thank you! They are, aren’t they?
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