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Pugnacious Leaf-Cutter Bee

Scientific Name: Megachile pugnata

Family: Megachilidae

Native Range: Eastern North America, Pennsylvania

Size:

Nest: Solitary, leaf cutter*

Nesting Location: Pre-made tunnels or holes (Wilson and Carril, p. 184 – 188)

Nest Materials: Pieces of leaves stuck together with saliva (Wilson and Carril, p. 184 – 188)

Active: Summer

Color and Appearance: Black with whitish hairs

Pollen Collection: Hairs under abdomen (Wilson and Carril, p. 184 – 188)

Flight Distance: *

Bees in the genus Megachile (meaning “big lipped”) snip pieces of leaves to line their nests, giving them a common name of “leaf cutter” bees. Construction of each nest cell can take anywhere from 1.5 – 3 hours for Megachile sp. bees. (Wilson and Carril, p. 184 – 188)

*From Heather Holm, Pollinators of Native Plants: Attract, Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants. Minetonka: Pollination Press, LLC, 2014., p. 267.

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European Wool Carder Bee

Scientific Name: Anthidium manicatum

Family: Megachilidae

Native Range: Europe, Asia, Africa, introduced to North America in mid-twentieth century

Size: Medium with unusually strong sexual dimorphism. Females: 11 -13 mm (0.43 – 0.51 in); Males: 14 – 17 (0.55 – 0.67 in)*

Nest: Solitary, cavity*

Nesting Location and Materials: Preexisting cavities lined with tricomes (“wool”) from plant leaves.*

Active: Summer, (Wilson and Carrill, p. 176-178.)

Color and Appearance: Black with golden hairs

Pollen Collection: Hairs on face (Wilson and Carrill, p. 176-178.)

Flight Distance:

European wool carder bees are native to Europe, Asia and North Africa. They were first observed near Ithica, NY in the 1960s and have since spread across north America. While native Anthidium sp. are active in the spring, only the introduced Anthidium manicatum is active in late summer.

Unlike most bees, the males are significantly larger than the females. Their eggs are laid at the back of the nesting tunnel, meaning that the smaller females hatch first. Large males defend flower patches and wait to mate with passing females.

Female wool carder bees collect the fuzz from plant leaves and use it to line their nesting areas and create dividers between their brood cells. (Wilson and Carrill, p. 176-178.)

*From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthidium_manicatum).

August 12, 2020: I have observed a lone wool carder bee flying loops around the anise hyssop patch. I presume that this is our resident male, defending his patch from interlopers and looking for mates. Although Wikipedia says that males will defend their patch against even humans, he seems to ignore me. I appreciate that.

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Thread-Waisted Wasp

Scientific Name: Podalonia sp.

Family: Sphecidae

Native Range: Worldwide except South America, Pennsylvania

Size:

Active:

Color and Appearance:

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Red Paper Wasp

Scientific Name: Polistes Carolina

Family: Vespidae

Native Range: Florida to New York; Pennsylvania

Size:  Length: 0.98 – 1.26 in (25–32 mm); Black wings: 0.59 -0.98 in (15–25 mm)*

Active:

Color and Appearance: Mostly red with some occasional dark stripes on abdomen.*

Social wasp.

*From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polistes_carolina)

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Mason Wasp

Scientific Name: Ancistrocerus campestris 

Family: Vespidae

Native Range: Eastern United States, Pennsylvania

Size: Wingspan Male: 0.25 – 0.35 in (6.5–9 mm); Female: 0.35 – 0.43 in (9–11 mm)*

Active:

Color and Appearance:

*From Bugguide.net (https://bugguide.net/node/view/40396)

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Great Black Wasp

Scientific Name: Sphex pensylvanicus

Family: Sphecidae

Native Range: United States, Mexico, and southern Canada, Pennsylvania*

Size: Females: 1.0 -1.3 in (25–34 mm); Males: 0.7 – 1.1 in (19–28 mm) .*

Active:

Color and Appearance:

Note:Sphex pensylvanicus was the subject of the first article on an insect written by a native of the New World,[2][12] when observations made by John Bartram on S. pensylvanicus were presented to the Royal Society in 1749 by Peter Collinson.[5] Sphex pensylvanicus was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1763 work Centuria Insectorum, using material sent to him by Charles De Geer.[13]“*

*From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphex_pensylvanicus)

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Four Toothed Mason Wasp

Scientific Name: Monobia quardridens

Family: Vespidae

Native Range: Eastern and Central United States to Mexico, Pennsylvania*

Size: Wingspan of Female: 0.55 – 0.71 in (14 – 18 mm); Male: 0.43 – 0.57 in (11–14.5 mm)*

Active: 2 generations per year, over wintering as pupa*

Color and Appearance:

*From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monobia_quadridens)

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Cicada Killer Wasp

Scientific Name: Sphecius speciosus

Family: Crabronidae

Native Range: Easter and Central United States to Mexico and Central America, Pennsylvania

Size:

Active:

Color and Appearance:

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Syrphid Fly

Family: Syrphidae

Native Range:

Size:

Active:

Color and Appearance:

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Yellow-Faced Bee

Scientific Name: Hylaeus sp.

Family: Colletidae

Native Range:

Size: Small, 5 – 7 mm (0.2 – 0.3 in)*

Nest: Preexisting cavities: wood, stems or twigs*

Nest Lining: Silk-like salivary gland secretions, brushed on with glossa*

Active: Late spring – late summer*

Color and Appearance: Black with yellow markings; hairless, bilobed tongue, no pollen-collecting scopae*

Pollen Collection: Pollen stored internally in crop*

*From Heather Holm, Pollinators of Native Plants: Attract, Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants. Minetonka: Pollination Press, LLC, 2014., p. 257.