two shots of a small be on yarrow

[DanK]

Actually, three--I got one more after posting.

Honeybees are not native to the Americas, but lots of other species are, including a large number of very small bees that people often don't notice. This lady is an example of one of them, but I have no idea which species. She was perhaps 1 cm long, although she and the yarrow were both moving fast enough (it was a windy day) that I didn't have a chance to really check that out. But for an indication, these are both at MWD with a crop sensor camera, a 100 mm macro, and a 36 mm tube, and even so, I had to crop the images.

I took a bunch of a smaller, brilliant green species in a red and yellow peony, but thanks to the wind, not a single one was sharp enough to post. Will try to get those in the next few days.

C&C welcome, as always.

[Ziggy]

Very nice job on these.

[ClaudioG]

Great images Dan...i have one or 2 images of different bees we get here in South africa. i've noticed pple dont really take notice of the different types. Im not really clued up on insetcs but i njoy macro. i have a few of this type of bee...is it just a smaller type of honey bee?

Its amazing when u get down to this scale how different they actually are.

As far as images go..i reckon the way you captured the pollen on legs is just epic. Good job

[bnnrcn]

Hi Dan The last one looks great with good focus and sharp details . Colors look great too.

[Geoff F]

Not sure what you have in the way of bees over there, Dan; but in the UK I would be considering one of the Lasioglossum species.

[Shadowman]

Nice set.

[IzzieK]

To my eyes, all of them are excellent shots! I am still intrigue...did you really mean 1cm? Is there any other number you forgot to add after 1 in the cm? This is a serious question...I really want to know...see no smilie...

[DanK]

Thanks, all. Izzie, yes, about 1 cm, although I didn't bring out a ruler. They very small compared to honeybees. There are other sweat bees that are much smaller yet. Claudio, they are a different family than honeybees, which are not native to North America. Geoff, you may be right. We have a lot of lasioglossum species here. However, my identification skills are very poor. I have been hunting for a good source on northeastern-US bees but haven't yet found one. Binnur, the last was best because both the bee and the wind settled down. The flowers were really blowing around for the others.