#anthidiini

[cnestus]

look at this EXTREMELY CUTE BEE i found.

it's an anthidiine, i'm pretty sure in the genus Stelis

[usgsbiml]

Are there such things as red bees?  

Yes Pilgrim.

Here is a series of Pachyanthidium (species unknown) aka the  Sawtooth Sputnik Bee, collected in Kenya.

This group of bees, and the Anthidiini tribe it nestles in taxonomically, are almost all characteristically striped and spotted with bright yellow, white, and red colors on a wide body, usually also with serious amounts of pitting cratering their exoskeleton.  As usual, not much of the life history details are known for this group (including the identification of this species ) but the 18 described species occur broadly south of the Sahara in African and a few species sneak into Southeast Asia.  This particular species falls within a subgroup of sputnik bees that have hairy eyes.  Another unusual feature is the development of lateral spines on the abdominal segments.  

There are more red bees, as you will see rabbit.

All original pictures completely public domain and available at our Flickr site:https://www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/

Photography Information:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY

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sam droege

[dendroica]

Anthidium porterae, m, face, Hidalgo Co. NM_2016-06-27-11.35 (via USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab)

Anthidiums...in this case A. porterae....pretty spiffy very toothy (in the female) thick, direct flying marked in patterns of yellow over black. What is not to like. This one was collected in the boot heel of New Mexico by C.C. Nicholson. Pictures by Miss Elizabeth Garcia.

[dendroica]

Anthidiellum notatum gilense, f, side, Cochise Co. AZ_2016-03-15-20.40 (via USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab)

Collected in the deserts of Cochise County in Arizona as part of the famous Bee Course there by Tim McMahon, these speedy little bees are found throughout much of North America. At this moment these are considered a "subspecies" rather than full species but if you compare the visuals on these specimen to those of eastern species you will see that while the body form is the same ish that the colors are different enough to suspect that they may actually be different species. Certainly the habitats inhabited are quite different. Photography by Amanda Robinson.

[dendroica]

Anthidiellum notatum gilense, f, face, Cochise Co. AZ_2016-03-15-20.19 (via USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab)

Collected in the deserts of Cochise County in Arizona as part of the famous Bee Course there by Tim McMahon, these speedy little bees are found throughout much of North America. At this moment these are considered a "subspecies" rather than full species but if you compare the visuals on these specimen to those of eastern species you will see that while the body form is the same ish that the colors are different enough to suspect that they may actually be different species. Certainly the habitats inhabited are quite different. Photography by Amanda Robinson.

[dendroica]

Anthidium oblongatum, Gynandromorph, Side, PA, Adams County_2014-11-24-15.42.27 ZS PMax by Sam Droege on Flickr.

This is our third gynandromorph on the Flickr site. A gynandromorph is a bee that exhibits characteristics of both sexes. In the other two species (Lasioglossum and Bombus) the split was bilateral..one side male and the other, female. In this Anthidium oblongatum (an introduced species) almost the entire bee is female with the apparent exception of having a seventh abdominal segment and genitalia. Note on the dorsal view the incomplete nature of the typical flange at the end of the segment. This specimen was collected by David Biddinger in his Penn State Apple Orchard Experiment Station Kingdom in South Central Pennsylvania. Picture was taken by Brooke Alexander.

[dendroica]

Stelis australis, M, Side, GA, Baker County (by Sam Droege/USGS)

Stelis australis....

A nice colorful Stelis from the pinelands of Georgia. This group is likely to be a nest parasite (lays eggs in nests of other bees) of species in the uncommon Megachilidae bee genus Trachusa, so overall a very rare bee on an uncommon to rare host. Nice to see that such things still exist. This one was collected by Sabrie Breland. Photograph by Brooke Alexander.

[dendroica]

bee 04487d04, f, angle, south africa_2014-08-06-11.26.52 ZS PMax by Sam Droege on Flickr.

Serapista species, Unknown Pillow Bee, collected in South Africa by Laurence Packer

The zebra-like markings on this bee are diagnostic, the white stripes are formed from blade like brilliant white hairs that are particularly beautiful when viewed under high magnification. This genus forms a small group of four species found only in Africa. They form their nests from loose, fluffy masses of plant fibers and sometimes animal hairs which they attach to plant stems. The whole structure appears vaguely like a cotton boll. The brood cells are made inside this ball of fluff and the larvae develop as if inside a pillow.