Bugs and Butterflies

[Turtle]

nice post there cedars san! keep up the good works.

today in my garden i shot some video of wild bees visiting western yellow wood sorel, per that species discussion in the wildflower thread (starts post #11 Wildflowers).

i did have clips of 3 bees visiting over an interval of ~15 minutes, or at least 3 bee visits. for some reason my software edited wmv file of the clips edited together failed to work when i uploaded it to PooTub. anyway, the first 2 visits were fly bys of a single bee, maybe the same one twice, but they didn't stay as does this smaller bee in the straight-from-the camera clip below. petals measure 3/8" from base to tip.

YouTube - wild bee on western yellow wood sorel

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by Turtle

anyway, the first 2 visits were fly bys of a single bee, maybe the same one twice, but they didn't stay as does this smaller bee in the straight-from-the camera clip below. petals measure 3/8" from base to tip.

I would suggest its from this family: Family Halictidae - Sweat Bees.

Growing up I knew of one type, the ones that stung you while you were out weeding the garden, often on the back of your knees or in your elbow area (in the bend). Lots of the little metalic green bees are in this family.

There are also green bees under this family, but I think they are bigger than the one you shot:
Family Megachilidae - Leaf-cutter bees, Mason Bees, and allies
Subfamily Megachilinae
Tribe Osmiini

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Cedars

..There are also green bees under this family, but I think they are bigger than the one you shot:
Family Megachilidae - Leaf-cutter bees, Mason Bees, and allies
Subfamily Megachilinae
Tribe Osmiini

nothing stings my pride like not knowing my bees. i'm on it at my usual pace though. i managed to grab some fairly clear still-frames from the video of the other 2 bees.

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by Turtle

nothing stings my pride like not knowing my bees. i'm on it at my usual pace though. i managed to grab some fairly clear stills of the other 2 bees.

Well, for starters, these two are not bees, they are flies. Theres lots and lots of bee mimics in the fly family so its easy to miss that.

Most of the flat bodied flies seem to be in this subfamily:
Family Syrphidae - Syrphid Flies
Subfamily Syrphinae
Tribe Syrphini

This past year I have figured out (via 18 GB of pics) theres a bunch of these guys (Syrphid flies) floating around both my home and the meadows. I havent figured out a good way to ID them beyond a few types fall under Syrphini. But then there isnt much for region specific bugs out there, once you get beyond butterflies and Dragonflies (and sorting out the dragonflies can be a nightmare).

Sooo... if you want more info:
Subfamily Syrphinae - BugGuide.Net
Let us know what you find. I got to page 35 today.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Cedars

Well, for starters, these two are not bees, they are flies.

Originally Posted by Cedres

Theres lots and lots of bee mimics in the fly family so its easy to miss that.

Originally Posted by Cedercyclopediac

Sooo... if you want more info:
Subfamily Syrphinae - BugGuide.Net
Let us know what you find. I got to page 35 today.

not sure how you gauge a page, but i looked at the images for every Genus & Species given on your link. i found images from 2 genera that closely mimic my images.

here they bee:
Genus -Allograpta
Genus Allograpta - BugGuide.Net

Genus -Sphaerophoria
Genus Sphaerophoria - BugGuide.Net

a specific id of my flies aside, the look through the sub-family Syrphinae was an education in itself. some very elaborate bee-mimicking markings, but then those with their entire body shape mimicking narrow wasted wasps is fascinating. i never knew.

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by Turtle

not sure how you gauge a page, but i looked at the images for every Genus & Species given on your link. i found images from 2 genera that closely mimic my images.

here they bee:
Genus -Allograpta
Genus Allograpta - BugGuide.Net

Genus -Sphaerophoria
Genus Sphaerophoria - BugGuide.Net

a specific id of my flies aside, the look through the sub-family Syrphinae was an education in itself. some very elaborate bee-mimicking markings, but then those with their entire body shape mimicking narrow wasted wasps is fascinating. i never knew.

Those were the two genus I was leaning towards, with an emphasis on Sphaerophoria. One thing I have noticed, is when the genus isnt broken down into several species, it usually indicates (for bugguide) that details needed were not provided by the photo, sometimes its a good wing shot so the pro's can see where wing cells divide or they need a picture of the false wing (weird little white growths around where the wing attaches to the body, I cant remember what its called) or exams involving sex organs or other internal organs (lung location ID is common with spiders) is needed before exact specie can be assigned.

In may I found myself laying on the ground trying to get pictures of Hairy legs on butterflies, as I read its one way to differentiate between two types of nearly identical spreadwing skippers, skippers who tend to land on the ground. I got covered in wood ticks and still havent figured out the difference. Because of course, the females dont have hairy legs on either species.

Sometimes a google search on the scientific name will reveal additional info that helps a person nail or narrow an ID further. sometimes.

Anyways, keep posting those pics! I do enjoy trying to nail these down as it helps strengthen my skills for my own investigations of "what-the-hell-is-that"

[Cedars]

Researching the Lycaenidae (Gossamer Winged Butterflies) I came across this bit of trivia:

"The Xerces butterfly is believed to be the first American butterfly species to become extinct as a result of loss of habitat caused by urban development."

More here: Xerces Blue - Wikipedia

Worldwide, the Lycaenidae show a significant mutualism with ants (especially in Africa and Australia). An heres an interesting paper on these guys (warning PDF file):

http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/p...et_al_2002.pdf

[TheBigDog]

Long ago I had mentioned my Grandfather having a collection of moths and butterflies mounted in glass cases. They are at my sister's house in Texas, and I am going to be visiting there during the first week of August. I have on my to-do list getting good pictures and posting them here. The collection may be 80+ years old now, so it may contain samples of rare or extinct species. We will soon see.

Bill

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by TheBigDog

Long ago I had mentioned my Grandfather having a collection of moths and butterflies mounted in glass cases. They are at my sister's house in Texas, and I am going to be visiting there during the first week of August. I have on my to-do list getting good pictures and posting them here. The collection may be 80+ years old now, so it may contain samples of rare or extinct species. We will soon see.

Bill

I remember you mentioning that. If he has not labeled these guys, try to get a top and underwing shot. They might be too frail to be moving around though. Oh and watch for multiple pinned specimens. Lots of collectors get two (or 4 if the females are different) and pin them so you can see top and underwing views without having to move them.

and if possible, throw a ruler alongside for a measurement scale.

[TheBigDog]

Originally Posted by Cedars

I remember you mentioning that. If he has not labeled these guys, try to get a top and underwing shot. They might be too frail to be moving around though. Oh and watch for multiple pinned specimens. Lots of collectors get two (or 4 if the females are different) and pin them so you can see top and underwing views without having to move them.

and if possible, throw a ruler alongside for a measurement scale.

Will do! If I remember correctly he had hand written labels under each specimen. That should help too.