Very small wasp or parasitic bee

[DanK]

When people here think of bees, they think of honeybees, which are very common and quite large. However, they aren't native to North America. About 4,000 species of bees native to North America have been identified, but most people rarely notice them because many are very small and they usually appear in smaller numbers.

We try to plant native species of plants, so we see a lot of different pollinators. I discovered this year that chive flowers attract a considerable variety of native bees, most very small, and some beautifully colored. Unfortunately, because they are small, they are very hard to photograph.

This is a face-on view of what I think is a bee, sitting on a chive flower. I had to crop fairly severely to get it to this size:



However, I haven't identified it. It could even be a wasp. If anyone has an idea, I would love to hear more. The antennae are very close to each other, which is wasp-like, but the legs are a little hairy for a wasp. Also, in this additional photo, the wings are over the back, which is more common for bees. I'm posting this second one just for identification.

[Wavelength]

Waaw.... the first one is stunning
Is there a mild focal problem in two?

[rudi]

This is a Nomada sp. "Cuckoo bee".

[billtils]

The face on shot is excellent (but wrong eyes for a true bee - Rudi is probably correct, see here for some examples of the species).

[DanK]

I think Rudi is right. My first thought was actually Nomada, but this bee is smaller than I thought they were, and I also misremembered one thing: I didn't think Nomada have yellow stripes on their abdomens, but at least some of the species do. Also, I've read that as a general rule, wasps have antennae that are closer together than those of bees, and parasitic bees like Nomada lack the pollen-capturing hairs on their legs that pollen-gathering bees have. Here is another that I identified, or possibly misidentified, as a Nomada years ago:



Last night I went back to the guide I usually use for bees, Wilson & Carrill's Bees in Your Backyard (which I highly recommend for folks on this side of the pond), and that suggests that this is a Nomada. They note a lot of other kinds of cuckoo bees in the US.

Bill, I'm not sure what you mean about the eyes being wrong or that this isn't a true bee. Oval eyes on the side of the head are characteristics of bees and wasps. E.g., here is another species of native bee:



If by true bee you mean honeybees, those are not native to the US. Their eyes are different from those of most if not all native bees in that they have hairs sticking out of the compound eye, not just around it. These are hard to see unless you get very close, but here's a shot that shows them:



Now that we have the right stuff planted, we get quite a variety of native bees, but I just don't have the knowledge to identify most of what I see, and the fact that most are quite skittish makes it even harder. Also, it may be age, but I am finding it harder to move quickly enough to get good captures of these critters. (That's why the second one in my first post is a bit out of focus. I only posted it because it shows more of the bee and is therefore helpful for identification.)

Maybe I should stick with trying to identify bumblebees. There are only 40 species here, and they are a lot bigger

[billtils]

... Bill, I'm not sure what you mean about the eyes being wrong or that this isn't a true bee. Oval eyes on the side of the head are characteristics of bees and wasps...

Dan - yes I see what you mean and stand corrected. My comment was based on the appearance in your second image where the eyes are indeed oval and on the side of the head, but not the shiny black that I'm used to seeing in bees, and like those in your 4th image. I was thinking more on the lines of Hoverfly bee mimics.


Bill

[DanK]

Bill,

once you start finding native bees--at least over here--you find a variety of eye colors. In addition to the brown of honeybees and some other bees and the black of many bumblebees, I've seen reddish brown and various shades of green, e.g., the one below, and gray-green.

Dan

[billtils]

Bill,

once you start finding native bees--at least over here--you find a variety of eye colors. In addition to the brown of honeybees and some other bees and the black of many bumblebees, I've seen reddish brown and various shades of green, e.g., the one below, and gray-green.

Dan

Dan

Point well made and very nicely illustrated.

I've only ever seen black ones here which I suppose is as good an example of a classic logic situation as any: "All the bees I've seen have black eyes therefore all bees have black eyes".