Oct 3, 2013
A brilliant sunflower clinging to the red ring of autumn.
And here comes a common sunflower bee, Melissodes agilis (this is a female, as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis.)
The sunflower bee is a specialist on sunflowers (Helianthus spp.). Scientists know this as a long-horned ground-nesting bee, a member of Anthophoridae. Both the plant and the bee are native to the United States.
Melissodes agilis is commercially important. And it's common.
But there's nothing "common" about it when "sunflower bee" meets "sunflower."
The beauty is overwhelming.
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