I thought I would fit all the bees in my Illawarra backyard into two posts but it appears there are more than 12 different types of bees that visit our suburban lot (who knew??). So this will be the penultimate (love that word) post directing you to the bee section of my Bug-a-log count.
This second part deals with two genera of the long-tongues; Megachile bees – the leaf-cutters and the resin bees and the Amegilla bees, the most recognisable native bees – Blue-banded and Teddy Bear bees.
I have a lot of sources to be thankful to for the information in the Fun Facts sections. But rather than thank them in this post I have decided to reference them at bottom of the Bees group. I will gradually up date the rest of my insect groups to also have the reference information. I’d suggest if you are interested in Australian native bees to get onto the The Bees in the Burbs and Bee aware of your Native Bees facebook groups.
As I began writing this section a different type of nest cap appeared in a drilled hole of my newest insect hotel.
Thanks to Jenny Thynne on, Bee Aware of Your Native Bees fb, I know a wasp-mimic bee (Subfamily Hyaleinae, Hyleoides sp) is responsible for this intricate woven curtain. But as I haven’t seen the bee yet (despite regular stake-outs) I haven’t added it to my Bug-a-log. Hopefully I can prove its existence with a photo at some later date.
Also since last post I have added better photos to the short-tongued bee section. I have a better picture of the face markings of Hylaeus nubilosus and, my favourite bee photo so far, – a cute picture of a small group of Lipotriches males roosting.
For me, the most fascinating bee of this series of long-tongues is Megachile lucidiventris. Althought she is quite a plain-looking black bee, I marvelled at her industriousness and craftmanship as she built her nests. She remained focussed on her task even when a large mud wasp stood over her nest hole.
The five different species I identified in Megachile and Amegilla genera are as follows:
Nature lover's log 