Rumblings - Agapostemon virescens

February 20, 2023 Cindee Klement

Agapostemon virescens lead a very unique lifestyle - living in underground communal nests, with up to 30 individual females sharing the same space. These tricolored metallic bees have an intricate defense system which consists of assigning roles; while some female bees explore and gather food, at least one always stays behind as gatekeeper! Interestingly enough, this species cleverly protects their nest from predators by making sure that they always has someone on guard duty.

During late-July to early-August, a second generation of A. virescens emerges that is both male and female. With no place in their natal nests for the males to go, they seek shelter elsewhere - hosting bee slumber parties where huddles are formed! The females take advantage of this time by sipping on flowers like New England aster, goldenrods and sneezeweed so as to survive winter without having any need build nests or lay eggs during fall season. Sadly though when temperatures drop these mated females enter hibernation while males die selflessly protecting them until spring arrives again next year.

Monotype- leafcutter (petalcutter)

September 5, 2022 Cindee Klement

Leafcutter (petal cutter) Megachile and the Blanket flower

Watercolor and pastel monotype

30” X 44”

Leafcutter bee flying to its nest just after cutting a petal from the Texas native Gaillardia pulchella aka blanket flowers. They use the petals to protect walls and to seal their nests. In exchange for the petals, the leaf cutter pollinates the blanket flowers bloom. It is one of my favorite relationships in “Symbiosis.”

The bee that pollinates tomatoes is not the honeybee.

January 24, 2021 Cindee Klement

Summary from sciencedaily.com

The yield and quality of many crops benefit from pollination, but it isn't just honey bees that do this work: bumble bees also have a role. A team has used innovative molecular biological methods and traditional microscopy to investigate the pollen collecting behavior of honey bees and bumble bees in agricultural landscapes. It turns out bumble bees take much more pollen from different plant species than honey bees to satisfy their need for protein.

bumble bees are superior pollinators of tomatoes than the honey bee. The southern carpenter bee also pollinate tomatoes.