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Thyreus ramosus
A beautiful black and white bee of the Thyreus genus, the Thyreus ramosus. According to wiki, Thyreus is an Old World genus of bees, one of many that are commonly known as cuckoo bees, and are cleptoparasites of other species of bees, mostly in the genus Amegilla. The pictured bee was spotted and photographed very early in the morning, while it was still asleep, standing on a dry asphodelus stem. I only snapped the pics whithout disturbing it. Spotted in an empty field/prairie with low vegetation, in Nea Demetrias, Volos city, Greece.
Spotted on Oct 5, 2015
Submitted on Oct 16, 2015
12 Comments
Thank you so much for the nomination dear @AshleyT , dear PN rangers and fellow PN spotters! I'm thrilled!
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
Thank you dear @DanielePralong, I'll add my little beautiful bee in this mission asap :D
Despina, here's another global mission which is suitable for this spotting:
https://www.projectnoah.org/missions/900...
Dear @arlanda, as far as I know, there are 4 subspecies of the apis mellifera in Greece, 28 species of bubblebees, and I dont think there is a full list with all the solitary bee species... Unfortunately I cannot post this spotting in the international pollinators mission, since the bee was not on a flower but on a dry stem - I was repeatedly suggested to not use the mission for no foraging insects :/
Dear @Mark Ridgway, as I found out, these little bees use to rest in that particular position; I found several pics in internet as I was searching for the correct species...
Thank you dear @arlanda :)
Dear @armadeus.4, it's a little beauty :)
Solitary bees are very important as pollinating insects.
As an example, in the UK alone there are 267 species of bees:
a single honeybee species, 24 species of bumblebees, and around 225 species of solitary bees. Solitary bees differ from honeybees and bumblebees in not being social insects.
What a trick sleep on a stick.
Nice spotting!
Beautiful!!!