The Black Sand Eater. You will not find Lasioglossum sopinci away from sand. This is one of an unaffiliated tribe of bees that requires, no, demands sand. If there is no sand these bees are gone, some have to have ocean dunes, some have to have sand that is not ocean dunes, some require deep sugar sand, some are ok with soil with a good sand component. So, to hunt for these wee black bees we go to old sand mines and put out little cup traps (the new mines ones are terrible, mostly filled with landfill material, capped with clay and hydroseeded with non-native blech, a horrible end to what could have been a great conservation area...this sort of tidying up disturbs me (clearly)); interior sand dunes, and even road cuts that are properly neglected. What little we know makes us think they are generalists in terms of flower preference, so probably the sand is the key. But why? It seems so limiting to only be able to live in a sandy hole in the ground, when so many other terrestrial opportunities exist outside of these sand pockets, unless you have something special that lets you live there while others cannot. Perhaps you are tolerant of being buried by blown sand? A special sand tool? Mysterious. Picture by Cole Cheng.
