Bruce Congdon

Headed toward late summer and the yellow-faced #bumblebees are busy on my Echinacea. See her tongue seeking deep in the flower for nectar and all the pollen on her legs? The other bumble bees have all but disappeared. May they find safety and return next Spring!
#bugsky
#nature
#garden
🌱
🪲

This hover #fly, Myathropa, visited my yarrow today. Apparently the larvae live in decaying plant material, so this pic could belong in #simplecompost.bsky.social,
#learndirt,
#bugsky,
#gardens,
or #insects
🪲🌱

Two #wasps for #InsectThursday. A tiny parasitic wasp (Chalcidoidea) and a Great Golden Sand Digger (Sphex ichneumonoides). Both on goldenrod. The flowers give a sense of scale. #bugsky #garden 🌱 🪲

For #InsectThursday a beautiful hover fly (Syrphidae:Lapposyrphus) arriving at cilantro blooms in my #Garden. What a lucky shot! 🌱 🪲 #bugsky #Syrphidae #Fly #learndirt When your cilantro bolts, let it!

A poignant image of a mason #bee that died while provisioning her nest. When I found her I was inspired and a little sad.
#InsectThursday #bugsky 🪲 🌱

#InsectThursday celebrated with this mining #bee (Andrena) carrying her load of pink pollen from the feral buckwheat in my #Garden #Pollinator
#bugsky
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Yes, this is a ladybird pupa. The adult will leave this shell behind when she emerges.

I have planted many flowers in my #garden to attract beneficial #insects (pollinators, predators, parasitoids). Most recent success was showy milkweed, shown here being visited by a braconid wasp hours after first blossom opened. #bugsky #learndirt 🪲 🌱

Potter wasp. Family Vespidae, subfamily Eumeninae. Could be genus Eumenes.

#InsectThursday in the Generous Garden features this Snipe #Fly, family Rhagionidae. This one evidently has just emerged from the pupal stage spent in the #soil since its cuticle is in the process of becoming sclerotized and tanned (hardened). #bugsky 🪲 🌱 #learndirt

They are Anystidae aka whirligig mites. Likely Anystis agilis.

Here is a beautiful little cuckoo #wasp (Chrysididae) I would not have seen except that it drowned in the bird bath. “Cuckoo” because they are nest parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other wasps or bees so their larvae can steal the food intended for their host. #bugsky 🪲 🌱

Luna moth

Was hard to ID, because it is a fly, not a bee. The angle is hard but my first guess is bee fly. Family Bombyliidae. There are also some hover flies that look like this. Nice photo!!

Happy #InsectThursday! BeeMachine (great app, in case you haven’t discovered it) is certain this mining #bee is Andrena milwaukeensis. This is the first time I’ve seen it in my garden. Here it is visiting meadowfoam (Limnanthes), which attracts many different bees. #bugsky 🌱 🪲

So quick to get back underground, ground #beetle larvae are difficult to #photograph. This is the best I’ve managed so far. But I love having them in the #garden eating slugs and root maggots! #bugsky 🪲🌱

So quick to get back underground, ground #beetle larvae are difficult to #photograph. This is the best I’ve managed so far. But I love having them in the #garden eating slugs and root maggots! #bugsky 🪲🌱

Trump is decimating the Forest Service & firing the very people who help save our communities.

Not only that, but he wants to eliminate FEMA entirely. He's not just gutting the work to prevent fires—but also the work to rebuild after disaster strikes.

I'm sounding the alarm.

A fluffy bee butt covered in pollen hanging out of a light purple flower. The two little back legs are draped over the flower.

In this time of uncertainty, fear, open hate and ignorance - there is still beauty and wonder. This perfect being exists. Adorable bee's bum. Love this image.

#nature #insect #bee #bum #butt #cute

On this #InsectThursday I couldn’t decide whether to be sad or happy. I love crab spiders and #honeybees and blueberries. This crab #spider hid on a blueberry blossom and ambushed this honeybee. See the tiny drop of venom on the sting? Ah the drama in the #garden! #bugsky 🪲🌱

#InsectThursday Western Conifer Seed Bug poked his head out. #bugsky 🪲🌱

#InsectThursday one day late. I found this tiny rove #beetle on the brim of my hat when I stopped weeding and transplanting onion sets to eat lunch. I hope he was eating the onion maggots that are thinning out my onions!
🪲 🌱 #bugsky #learndirt

On a road trip, stopped in #WallaceIdaho and saw this beautiful #stonefly on a wall (not far from the stream that runs through town). 🪲 #bugsky

#InsectThursday in my garden features this click beetle. Not much to look at, and her babies sometimes eat the roots of my lettuce plants. But she still belongs here! #bugsky #learndirt
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Yes, connected. Most solitary bees nest in the ground. Hard to tell which this is, but I would guess Anthophora.

After a long winter, this California Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica), worn thin but undaunted, came to visit the heather in my #garden. If you are feeling like this #butterfly looks, take #courage!
#bugsky #InsectThursday one day late 🌱 🪲

Velvet ant, actually a wingless wasp. Family Mutillidae. Nice video

The first kleptoparasitic #bee of the spring, a blood bee (Sphecodes) covered in dandelion pollen. #bugsky
#garden 🌱🪲

I caught this sweat #bee (Lasioglossum) “stealing” nectar from a kale flower by chewing a hole in the base of the corolla. Happy #InsectThursday!
#bugsky #entomology
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This small wolf #spider crawled to the top of a kale plant, 1 m high, and spun some loose webbing. A breeze came up and it pointed downwind and let out a strand of silk. I did not see it fly away, but I am pretty sure this is ballooning.
#bugsky 🪲 🌱