6/4/21 - Zizia and Hydrophyllum

Now that the forest is fully leafed out, there isn’t much bee activity deep in the woods, though there are a couple plants and their specialists that make “beeing” in northern hardwoods interesting. Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) seems perfectly happy in full shade, though is perhaps most abundant along wooded road edges, where it often co-occurs with Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea).
Both of these late-spring flowers host Mining Bee species not likely to be found anywhere else, and possibly identifiable from good photos, though the Golden Alexander specialist was recently split into two cryptic species.

https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/andrena-ziziae/
https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/andrena-geranii/

Obviously lots of bees outside the forest right now, one in particular to look for is the Georgia Mason Bee (Osmia georgica), a rare, relatively distinctive specialist on Asteraceae - look for a medium-sized blue bee on dandelions or fleabane.

https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/osmia-georgica/

Posted on 04 June, 2021 15:09 by beeboy