The mason bee houses I made back in November have really been popular with the buzzy set. Mostly, I've seen the mud plugged bamboo tubes only when I've checked on them, but this week, I caught a user in the act.Bug nerds? Can you ID this critter? I will believe whatever you say.
This one is interesting, because it appears to show one of the top tube nests has opened. The mud clinging to the sides is not dark like a nest under construction will have.
I am WAY pleased with the success of this simple little habitat enhancement experiment.
Short post today, gotta paint some more and gotta get off the phone line so the washing machine repairperson who " ...will arrive between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm" can call for directions.
Tomorrow... I meet a fellow blogger in person.
14 comments:
Wow, either you have a very good zoom lense, or that little guy let you get really close!
I don't know what it is.
Sorry.
i have to admit i am going to enjoy the progress of your kitchen posts as much as i enjoy the florida wildlife posts. since i am an interior designer wanna be this will be fun. really looking forward to the color choice reveal.
i am kind of wondering if standard drop cloths on your cabinets might have been easier??
sorry- don't know anything about the bee but fabulous photo - as well as the snail eggs photo.
I agree with meems, seems to me sheets of plastic or a regular cloth drop cloth would have been quicker and cheaper than using so much painter's tape and paper.
I'm a sideline coach, not a player ;)
I have no idea what the insect is, but I wouldn't want him or her to light on me. Looks like the sort to have a stinger. Looks like some sort of wasp.
Don't cha just love those ball park times repairman give you?
You're meeting a fellow blogger! Yay. Blogger meet-ups can be a lot of fun, and very enlightening. I can't wait to see the pics, you're going to take pics, aren't you?
I missed yesterday's post (busy at our place too). That looks like quite a job. I'm looking forward to pics of the new kitchen colors, that wise choice of the smarter sex.
Nice wasp, bug, critter.
Dirt dauber? Mud dauber? Cute little flying critter? Uuuhhhhh...
Well, I'm not much of a hymenopterist, but it looks like what you have is a potter or mason wasp (family Eumenina). It's definintly a wasp rather than a bee, based both on appearance and on the mud nest. There are likely paralyzed caterpillars in the nests, being fed upon by the wasp larvae. Think Alien.
From Bugguide.net:
All of this subfamily have folded wings, like the rest of the Vespidae. A difficult group even to identify as to genus. Usually patterned boldly in black and yellow or white. A few genera can be identified by their distinctive abdomens, especially the juncture of abdomen and thorax, the first and second abdominal segments
You're coming down to Clearwater to work on my kitchen? Yayy! Can't wait to meet you! Bring the paint brushes, as I'm not done painting yet, either! j/k :)
I think we have some wasps like that outside of our front door. There are 7 of them in a nest at the moment. I'll take a pic and see how they compare to this one.
I've been calling them wasps. Is that wrong? My dog has been known to eat them with no apparent stinging of tongue.
I don't know bugs, but that one looks like one that gave me a nasty sting a couple of months ago. My whole arm swelled up and it really really hurt. I hope that is not what you have. Leaving on vacation tomorrow to pick up son number two from his summer job in Virginia. Hope to pick up some wi fi on the way. I will miss your posts if I can't!
Ava,
Both and I cropped it to make it bigger.
Thanks!
Meems,
Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying the transformation. I may finish tonight. Going back in to paint the attached laundry room after this post.
I used a drop for the floor and dining table, but I had no other sheeting and town is far enough away that the trip and the time it would take was not worth it.
Besides, my Gator nut wife had a zillion of these papers and they worked great.
POP,
The repair guy hours usually are maddening, but I did have to stay home and paint, so THIS time it wasn't so bad.
Robin,
I'll post about it after this blogger makes it home. No need for the internet to know he or she is off on vacation.
I am warming to the new color. In the can it was shocking.
Sophie,
CLFC for sure :)
Doug,
I thought he looked waspy too. I was shooting for orchard mason bees, but it seems mason wasps have moved in.
It's all good!
Thank you for your expertise.
Laura,
Is there food involved?
:)
With a kitchen in disrepair, I've been eating out tooooooo much.
Maybe we'll meet someday now that I am a USF DAD.
I have the official T-shirt to prove it.
Don't get stung on your porch!
Artfulsub,
Actually it appears you were right on. Doug above, is an insect expert.
Cathy S,
Have a safe trip!
Gee, didn't you just get home from a cool trip?
Yes, we do cherish our two weeks of freedome each year! :0) And for all the world who might be reading this and think of an empty house, my parents live next door and we have two big Dobermans. :0)
That's a waspstingie flyabout. I'm sure nobody else has figured this out.
USF? university of san francisco?
[i used to have problems with USC, when i lived in charleston, SC; my parents went to the place with crimson and gold, the mascot of which was not a gamecock.]
but anyway, looks to me like the painter is taking time off for bee care, photos, and general meandering about. like it's summer or something. sheesh.
Cathy S,
And don't forget the attack horses!
Hoss,
Again your knowledge of entomobugology astounds us!
Kathy A,
The painter is hustling his buns off trying to get done before the "meeting".
I'm actually painting with one hand and typing this with the other.
;)
Post a Comment