First Comma of 2022

We had our first 2022 Comma sighting today.

The photos below (with the exception of the last one) show the Comma in our garden. I was fascinated by its proboscis, which it kept rolling up and unwinding ... as you will see. I would love to know what it was finding to eat. Incidentally, I found this site very informative about the butterfly proboscis - do take a look.

You can see the 'comma' shape clearly on this outer wing

 

And just to add a postscript. The small bee was still around this morning ... here it is flying towards its hole in our masonry.

New Lodger of the Insect Kind

Look who decided to force entry into our home this morning ...

It proved a bit of a squeeze ...

Gently does it!

Perhaps that was a bit ambitious ...

Perhaps there is an easier way in ...

... or out!

 

I have not yet identified this delightful little bee, but am guessing it is an early masonry bee. Do tell me if you recognise the species. I shall post a photo on iSpot. 

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Postscript: I posted on iSpot, and it seems the bee is a male Red Mason Bee (Osmia (Osmia) rufa), with its long hairs and 13 segments on its antennae (yes, a kind person on iSpot counted these!).  

Sharing One's Home with a Bee

I'm pretty sure that this little fellow is a Mortar or Mason Bee. I had rather expected it to be Osmia leaiana, but I have a feeling the antennae are too long.

Mortar bees usually go for the cement layer between the bricks, but I'm wondering if this hole was originally drilled by a human. These small, sun-loving insects are useful pollinators in the garden. They do not have collective nests and they do not deploy worker bees. I understand that females (or some females) have stings but that they are harmless to humans. A Mason Bee nest consists of one chamber with somewhere between six and twelve cells.

The cells are filled with 'bee bread', a mix of nectar and pollen. Eggs are laid, and when they hatch, the larvae feed off the bee bread. They pupate and emerge in May or perhaps June.