Two long-horned bees close together at the base of yellow sunflower petals. They have noticeably long antennae, hence the name.

A long-horned bee asleep at the base of yellow sunflower petals.

Zoomed out to see all three long-horned bees sleeping on the yellow sunflower.

As it was getting dark, I found these three #LongHornedBees asleep in a #Sunflower together.
#SummerNights #bees #iNat

A goofy looking bee is drinking nectar in the bottom of a yellow composite flower. He’s got large blue eyes, tufts of fur on his body spotted with clumps of pollen, and under a bushy blonde mustache his tongue is extended into the flower below. Most striking of all are his disproportionately long antennae sticking into the air, looking like they belong to a much larger bee.

Mr “I thought I ordered the large (antennae)” Melissodes

On Grindelia, my favourite plant/all around weirdo

#dailybee #bcnativebees #melissodes #grindelia #longhornedbees

Two bees and a bright orange composite flower. One bee is at the bottom of the flower drinking nectar and the other is approaching by air. They both have striped abdomens and absurdly long antennae.

Long-horned dudes cruise around this gumweed & smash into any bees they don’t like (aka aren’t lady bees of their kind).

Here’s 2 taking a quick nectar break before the next round.

Melissodes on Grindelia.
#dailybee #bcnativebees #melissodes #grindeliastricta #longhornedbees

Most of my favorite bees are of the genus Melissodes (Long horned bees), because dang are they cute. Finding aggregations of sleeping males - like these Two-spotted Longhorned bees (Melissodes bimaculatus) - is a huge reason why.

#LongHornedBees #MacroPhotography #MilwaukeeWildlife.