Author Gary Taylor ◦
Another little bee I met cruisin’ the Banksias… (she said I could call her “June”… yeah, I know! Weird… it’s normally only the guys that like to give themselves names and as you know it’s usually something like “Zeus” or “Thor”…).
Anyway, she’s a Leioproctus, you can tell by the fluffy butt. (it’s called “pre-pygidial fimbriae“, which just means ‘bum fluff with a purpose’. These girls nest in burrows in sandy soil, the bum fluff is basically an applicator brush they use to line their nests with secretions they produce, a bit like brushing Bondcrete onto fretting mortar or limestone to hold it together…). But back to the point, the 2nd and 3rd pics were taken a few days ago, the 1st pic, not collecting pollen, was taken the week before so I’m not 100% sure it’s the same bee, but I reckon it is… (they do look a bit different but I think that’s more of an “angle and light” thing…). And I also think this April bee may be Leioproctus (Alokocolletes) excubitor… If she is, that’s exceptional, and I believe this could break two of my “world” records… The first, being one of, if not the longest “reigning” bee species I’ve ever photographed… So what do I mean by that?
Ok, take the Blue Banded Bees, almost everyone’s favourite, and even if (once you’ve seen what else is on offer), you find they don’t even make it into your top ten list, you still look forward to “the start of the season” and seeing them in your garden for a few months 🙂. But then that’s it, their Summer “reign” evaporates and they’re gone again. Same with most larger species of native bees, ’round for a few months then gone. And in most cases their offspring won’t emerge until the following year (from what I’ve recorded in my BeeTown so far, for a “resin” bee it can be up to and over 14 months from “capping off”), but not always… The quickest I’ve recorded is 2 months on the dot, by the still unidentified little Megachile I call “Asoc” bees (also on the list of longevity of “reign”)… Emerging in early October and nesting immediately, the 2nd generation emerges in early December, the 3rd in February, and as I write this the 4th generation are busy packing their nests with pollen, that’s 7 months of “reign”…
But! Excubitor… (I love that name… 😄) I remember excubitor being amongst the first of the native bees (along with a few other Colletinae) to emerge right at the start of the WA wildflower season last year… So I clicked on my profile to go back and check… Yep, first photographed sighting of one for the “new year” was July 13th last year, 10 months ago… So, 1st record, for the longest “reign” of a short lived species, 10 out of 12 months goes to excubitor… (Excubitor in Latin means Sentinel, or Watchman, coincidence? Dunno, but I think it’s pretty cool… 🙂). And the 2nd possible “world” record… My April bee May be “June’ the July bee… 😆 The longest ever lead up to the worst Dad (nae, Grandpa…) joke ever..? 😅 Dunno ’bout you but I reckon I nailed it! 😅😂🤣
Photographs © Gary Taylor
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