Author Gary Taylor ◦
There’s something about finding, photographing and adding new species of native bees to the collection that I find highly addictive… And since my latest new addition to the albums, Euryglossa calaina (first pic, thanks for the ID Ken Walker ) two weeks ago and hearing they may be the first pics of a living specimen, I’ve been like a junkie dying for his next hit and waiting for pay day… But in my case, “pay day” is the next still sunny day that I have off work.
Just for a bit of perspective, those pics are from a stunning natural native biodiversity hot spot that’s about 70 k’s away (and on private property that I don’t actually have permission to be be on, yet…) so it’s not like I can just sneak off for a quick look in my lunch break, but I’m aching to find it again and get better pics… I’m semi retired, only work 3 days a week, Friday-Sunday, and I’m in Geraldton midwest WA, also known as “Sun City”, doesn’t rain here that much (my local pub is called the “Wintersun”, the next suburb is called “Sunset”), should be easy… 😃 3 blissful sunny days at work while I’m twichin’ and itchin’, groaning with the agony of being at work on such glorious days but that fix is coming…
Oh… but no, we get a once in a year, four day long, gale force wind storm that starts on my first day off… 😆 and then of course, three glorious sunny days at work… Dead set had a bloke at work catch me groaning and mumbling profanities at the beautiful weather and asked if “I was ok” 😄 Then comes my next days off and another band of rain… “No, I’m fkn not!!!” 😆 I swear Murphy lives on my shoulder… 😅 Then yesterday there was a brief three hour window where the wind dropped and the sun came out and tho’ I really didn’t like my chances of “scoring” when you need a fix you’ll go to any length, so I handed some long haired hippy lookin’ dude $50 and he partially filled my car (it used to cost $30 for a good road trip, price of fuel is ridiculous) and off we went…
We tried but couldn’t find it again…. And you may think I’m making a bit of a fuss about it but that’s ‘cos I am. Most native bees only live for about 4 weeks. If that first time I saw it was it’s first week, then last week was it’s second, this week is it’s third, by next week it may be too late… Try telling a junkie he may not get his fix for another year or so… 😂 🤣 Eeeaaaarrrrggghhh!!!!
Anyway, we did see, albeit rather briefly (2nd, 3rd and 4th pics) what I’m fairly confident might bee Callomelitta antipodes. I’ve got better pics, barely a Tamazopan for a junkie…
But I do wonder about the one in the last pic… Same shape and size (perhaps a little smaller) as the Euryglossa in the first pic, clearly less colour, but you can see what appears to bee a similar hairy maine behind the head… Possibly the partner, possibly something else, dunno, what do you reckon Ken? Methodone?
Checkout the blog So here she is… Euryglossa calaina.
For more information, check out Insects > Bees > Euryglossinae > Euryglossa calaina