The Blue Banded Bee - Amegilla Cingulata

It was only yesterday that I discovered bees that were blue in color. Being more familiar with the yellow and black ones, the honey bees,  I initially thought what was hovering was a blue bottle fly. With closer inspection, I was just amazed that bees could be blue and irridiscent! 

Of course, I needed to take photos, not realizing that they are a challenge to chase with the lens.They move much faster than honey bees and they hover, something that honeybees don't do. It was amazing to watch them suspended in air for a few seconds and just when I was ready to click the shutter, the frame is without the bee. 

For more than an hour,  I watched,  waited,  clicked and was truly entertained!

Reading on blue banded bees, it is said that they are a native of Australia but can sometimes be seen elsewhere. Scientific name, Amegilla cingulata, blue banded bees do not form hives. They  are solitary. They work alone. They are introverts! They hate being bothered (who doesn't anyway ). Proof? I have tons of photos of their butts for being too camera shy!

A blue banded bee aboout take a dive.

A male blue banded bee.
Males have 5 blue bands. Females have four.

Pissed? Looks like he's going to go straight for the cam!

Blue bands are called "buzz pollinators". They are of great help to flowering plants that do not passively release pollen as these bees grab and quickly vibrate them to effect release. The tomato plant is one example.

On the same flowery shrub, there were a couple of blue bottle flies which I saw first. This drove me to think that the other hovering blue insects were all flies. Well, I was wrong.

A blue bottle fly resting atop a flower.

update August 11 :

Finally, i get to photograph this elusive bee up close!

*all photos ©alana palomique.



This is no longer about blue-banded bees.  I just feel like posting some pics of other bugs I spotted  simply because they turned out to be better in image quality. Further, after a series of shots where I ended up taking photos of the blue banded bees' butt [man, taking photos of bees is fun but will inevitably make you recite a string of cuss words!], I ought to recognize my patience in enduring the sun just so i can come home with focused shots. Hope no one minds the insertion and that bit of my pride. ;)