John Missed Finding a Bee

Orange-tipped Wood-digger bee
(Anthophora terminalis)

On June 22, 2020, I found an Orange-tipped Wood-digger bee (Anthophora terminalis). You have to understand a few things to understand how much excitement this caused. John, my husband, and I found bugs both common and uncommon in Orleans County. He had great eyes and I worked the camera. We hiked our land as much as possible to find more. But he died. And now, because of arthritic knees, I haven't been able to walk about searching for bugs like we used to do. With a cane or walker and a chair, I can set myself down near promising areas and shoot. It's actually a good way to get a phenology and inventory of creatures that are in a very small area. You can find dozens if you sit long enough. But without my beloved John, it is as sad as it is comforting to go on a bug hunt.

 

The bee in the these photos settled in front of me for a brief moment and I managed to get eight shots off before it left, only two of which were usable. I knew it was not a bumble bee but had no idea what it was. I always submit my insect shots to iNaturalist, where members (community scientists and professional scientists of all kinds) identify plants and animals. When a renowned Vermont bee expert identified my bee that day, I whopped. Loudly.

 

No one before June, 2020, had found this species so far north in Vermont. I submitted the find to bugguide.net for confirmation, and it came in overnight from a world-renowned international bee expert.

 

These photos now document the first reporting of this bee in Orleans County. iNaturalist had eight other sightings in other Vermont counties that season. I am in the company of the great community scientists that I so admire. 

 

I was sad that John missed out on the excitement. He was such an enthusiastic part of these quests, and he would have been proud of this find. But despite his death, my knees, the pandemic, and the tragedy of fellow Americans suffering under racism and hate, I have learned that sometimes something wonderful like this can still happen. Sometimes, I can smile again.

Read more Nature Notes here.

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