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Bombus campestris on Thistle
e6filmuser
Registered Users Posts: 3,378 Major grins
We tolerate a few wild flowers in our garden, for the sake of the insect life. I was photographing insects at one of them, a Wild Carrot, when I became aware of a handsome bee on the adjacent, recently opened thistle flowers.
This individual was not only quite large but had a distinctive pattern of white hairs on its abdomen (first image). White hairs, yes, but that hairless black area and shape were something I had not seen before.
Thistle flowers are great for attracting bees but they have their heads buried deep down in them for so much of the time that getting shots is difficult. Showing details in another challenge, as the bees tend to be covered in pollen, as is the case here.
At the time, I though it was possibly another type of bee which resembled a Bumble Bee. However, I now know that it is a Bombus. B. campestris is very variable as to hair colour, specially the males, but I think this is a female. It may be significant that I saw only the one individual and only on that day.
EM-1, Kiron 105, f16, twin RC TTL flash, hand-held.
Harold
This individual was not only quite large but had a distinctive pattern of white hairs on its abdomen (first image). White hairs, yes, but that hairless black area and shape were something I had not seen before.
Thistle flowers are great for attracting bees but they have their heads buried deep down in them for so much of the time that getting shots is difficult. Showing details in another challenge, as the bees tend to be covered in pollen, as is the case here.
At the time, I though it was possibly another type of bee which resembled a Bumble Bee. However, I now know that it is a Bombus. B. campestris is very variable as to hair colour, specially the males, but I think this is a female. It may be significant that I saw only the one individual and only on that day.
EM-1, Kiron 105, f16, twin RC TTL flash, hand-held.
Harold
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