A Bee and Her Magic Carpet!

I have been fascinated this week by Leaf-cutter Bees. While weeding my garden, I noticed a bee with an incredibly green underside. On closer examination I realized she was carrying an oval-shaped piece of leaf with her 6 legs, making it look like she was riding a saddle or magic carpet! Picture attempts were blurry. A few days ago I watched another Leaf-cutter bee enter a hole in my lawn. No pictures then either.

While walking along the Howard Watson trail this morning, I noticed my 3rd Leaf-cutting bee of the week and was able to snap some reasonable pictures this time. Within the green circle you will see a bee carrying a cut leaf and on the left of the bee is a tiny, dark, round circle. The dark circle is her nest hole. She doesn't damage any structures, always choosing existing holes.

Males will die after mating and the female will live for 5-8 weeks. She chooses the nest hole, cuts the leaves, makes the cocoons, puts food and 1 egg in each cocoon and caps it. Oval shaped leaves are used to make a cylindrical cocoon. Round shaped leaves are used to cap the end. Within the green circle above, the Leaf-cutter Bee is entering the hole.  Some species of Leaf-cutter Bees are 15 times more efficient at pollination than honey bees and they don't sting! NATURE IS SO AMAZING!!

We toured the Reid Conservation Area on Saturday for butterflies. We found lots of Banded Hair streaks, shown above, but the rare species were hiding from us!

Closely related to the Northern Pearly-eye of which I have posted photos recently, is the Appalachian Brown. Rarely do we get to see the upper side of their wings, so I was happy to find one willing to pose for me!

We also found an abundance of dragonflies and damselflies at Reid C.A. I couldn't identify this Eastern Pond Hawk's meal that she was eating, but it did have wings.

And on our way home, we spotted twin fawns in a distant field. Mom was nearby!