Sunday, September 4, 2011

Anthophora Urbana

I believe that this bee is an Anthophora urbana. Their is not a lot of information that I can find on this particular species. The Anthophora genus is one of the largest genus in the Apidae Family with over 450 species world wide.
What I did find out about the Anthophora Urbana is that they are solitary bees that dig underground nests in the sand or dirt. They do drink nectar like other bees and help to pollinate flowers. If you know anything more about these cool looking bees please feel free to share your info in the comments below.


11 comments:

Teresa said...

Don't think I've ever seen one like this before. It really is cool looking.

EMily said...

Very Cool!

Kim, USA said...

My first time to see a bee that is not yellow hehe. Great macro shots!

Pitcher Plant

A Bit of the Blarney said...

A close up of a been is well done! Not an easy task! WOW!! Cathy

namaki said...

This is very nice !

Bom / Plant Chaser said...

What an unusual looking bee. Great capture! You found its underground nest, too.

Rosie Gan said...

It chose the perfect colour to rest on...gives it contrast.
Lovely.
Rosie

Leif Hagen said...

Great macro of that bee working on a flower!
Macro Monday regards from EAGAN daily photo

Anonymous said...

This is NOT a bee!

Bees, particularly Anthophora species are Extremely hairy.

The body form is more robust in bees, dramatically so compared to this wasp.

This is a wasp in the family Cabronidae.

and to the yellow bee comment above, most bees are not yellow.

GWDeveloper said...

We've had a really nice Anthophora Urbana flying around lately. Check out the video we captured of it today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTeD-xo5P50

Anonymous said...

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