Camera technology has changed quite a bit since I purchased my old camera, so I thought I'd check out a new one.
I like that it is lighter. My old one could hurt my neck after a long hike.
I like that it is easier to get everything in focus.
Well, almost.
Guess I have a few bugs to work out...
Cicadas here in the Sonoran desert start singing around Father's Day and can be found throughout the summer. Because they are so abundant, you might not take a second look at them.
While out picking blueberries recently, a California woman did notice a cicada and she took a photograph of it. After she uploaded the photo the iNaturalist, an expert realized it wasn't any old cicada. The cicada belongs to the species Okanagana arctostaphylae, which hasn't been seen in over a century!
Check out the details in the article at iNaturalist and the see Okanagana arctostaphylae in the video below.
The reddish-brown body and wings matches the distinctive colors of the manzanita plant it rests on.
If there are seventeen year cicadas, it makes you wonder how long this species spends underground...
The male bees have been photogenic this month. After the male carpenter bee two weeks ago, I found something unusual on a milkweed early one morning.
Actually, it isn't really unusual, you just have to get up early in the morning to see it. This is a cluster of male long-horned bees "sleeping" on a plant overnight.
If you look at bit closer, you can see the long antennae that give them the common name long-horned bee.
Isn't it adorable?
These particular bees likely belong to the Genus Melissodes.
If the male bees form a cluster to sleep on a plant overnight, where are the females?
Each female long-horned bee builds a tunnel nest in the soil, so that's where she stays at night. During the day she gathers nectar and pollen from flowers to provision her nest and then lays eggs on the food.
What do the male bees do during the day?
You can spot the male bees hovering around plants with flowers defending them from other bees and looking for females to mate with.
Have you ever been lucky enough to spot a cluster of sleeping bees?