Author Gary Taylor ◦
I mentioned in a post a week or so back that in 1000 odd K’s of bush driving on the hunt for new bees (in horrendous weather) I’d seen nothing, just the “usual culprits”… Boring for me, but others may not have seen them before, so here’s one, Hylaeus elegans. 🙂
What I love about this gorgeous girl (apart from her stunning colours), is her personality… Ok, so for those of you kinda new to bee stalking, you may have noticed that they seem to get used to you being around after awhile and provided you don’t try to eat one they eventually let you get closer… And it might sound crazy but wearing the same coloured clothes each time makes a huge difference…
Years ago I discovered a new species of Hylaeus (Prosopisteron) in my garden, tiny little thing, skittish as, took days for her to get comfortable with me just being around and a good week before she trusted me enough to allow me to get a few pics of her… But as time went on she got more and more used to me being there and each time let me get a bit closer… And it never occurred to me at the time but I always wore a sky blue shirt (like Einstein’s theory, he had 5 suits all the same, just one less trivial thing have to think about 😅 and as bee stalker here in Midwest WA, camouflage wise, sky blue blends in well with the background 🙂), then one day, with all my blue shirts drying on the line, I wore a different colour… Wow! What a difference… As far as my sweet little Hylaeus girl was concerned I was a new (and potentially dangerous) completely different animal… She wouldn’t come near me… and didn’t until I put a blue one on (it’ll be dry in a few minutes anyway 😄)… she knew the big normally slow moving blue animal (she had once seen me move like lightning when a huge Rufovarius assassin bug landed on my ear… All three of us jumped 😆) that was often around, but not this new one…
Anyway, back to H. elegans, she’s one of the most cruisy easy going bees you could meet… Sure, like pretty much any living thing it’ll take off when first startled but these girls are quick to realise you’re no threat and will soon return to their favourite bunch of flowers to feed 🙂 even letting you grab a nearby leaf or two to hold the bunch steady in the howling wind and snap a couple pics… 😃
So, you may be wondering, if I find them “boring”, and already have much better pics of them, why do I keep taking more pics?… ‘Cos you never know when you’re gonna snap that awesome once in a lifetime shot so you just keep shooting hoping one day you’ll hit it… 😆 Not today, never mind… maybe tomorrow… 😄
Find out more about the species Hylaeus elegans.