White-banded Digger Bee (Sleeping)

Yes, that'd be my bet :-)

Yay! Thanks for the help. :-)

Well done Bernadette - you solved the mystery :)

Dave

Thanks for the input, S Frazier! I would have expected blue bands but I see from your spotting that's not always the case. Could it be Amegilla quadrifasciata, which is found in Italy?

Yes, notwithstanding location, it looks like a blue-banded bee. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/179...

Interesting! I had no idea bees had different pollinating techniques. Will have to read more about bees and tomatoes!

Nice shot. Quite different though, more of a honey bee look about it.

Normal bees are not very good at pollinating tomatoes. Blue banded bees use a thing called 'buzz pollination', were they clamp onto a stem and vibrate. This shakes the pollen loose and causes the pollination. So it is possible that the local tomato plantations may have imported the bees.

Dave

Thanks for the input, Dave! Not sure about farms per se, but every home in the area grows their own tomatoes, including this one. Here's my spotting of some bees on the lavender plants: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/345... There was more than one type buzzing around so not sure if these are the same as this sleeping one.

This just has to be a blue banded bee, Amegilla cingulata.

I could not find any articles about the bees being introduced into Italy, but my bet is that there are tomato farms near where you live.

Dave

Megachilidae leaf cutter bee ?

Thanks, Satyen and Suzanne! I had never thought about bees sleeping and so of course had to read up on it when I came across these ones.

Bees sleep. Don't know why I find that so surprising ... very nice photo.

Lovely! Looks like our Blue Banded Bee!

Thank you, TicThapanya!

beautiful shot