7/2/21 - Evening Primrose
If you find yourself at a barbecue over the long weekend, look around for the yellow flowers of Evening Primroses (genus Oenothera). These flowers are open in the late afternoon through mid-morning and the only place you are likely to find the Evening Primrose Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum oenotherae). This is one of a few Lasioglossum species identifiable from photos and easiest to find in gardens on cultivated varieties of Oenothera. A variety of bees (and a cool pink moth) visit Oenothera flowers, but the target species is a relatively large Lasioglossum (~8 mm) that is all black, without the metallic sheen of most species.
More details: https://val.vtecostudies.org/projects/vtbees/lasioglossum-oenotherae/
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Thanks for the hot tip! This sounds like a cool bee!
That is really interesting. I have been trying to get an evening primrose as I want to see crepuscular and/or nocturnal bees. I am not in the desert though so it is not likely, but I am still going to try.
I feel like I have heard of that species in OR also from people part of the Oregon Bee Atlas, but I can not be sure.
Based off the description and area I am likely thinking of a different species.
Yeah, Lasioglossum oenotherae is a northeastern US species but there are others. At least Lasioglossum and Megachile if I remember correctly
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