Anthophora plumipes

e6filmuser

This bee is the host of the cuckoo bee Melecta albifrons.

The common name is Furryfoot but the Latin name means featherfoot.

I see these on flowers in early spring.

They are thee most difficult insects to photograph that I have seen. They hover by a flower mostly for only about one second.

These images a not nearly as good as I would like. most have had more processing than usual and all have been cropped.

All are females (yellow legs) except the third, which is a male (brown legs).

Olympus EM-1 (aperture priority), Olympus 4/3 x2 TC, Olympus 4/3 50mm f2 macro, f11, hand-held.Shutter speed various, from 1/80 to 1/500 sec.

Harold