Green seems to bee the colour of the week in our pollinator garden. Today’s beauty is the Pure Green Sweat Bee which is another native bee. Earlier this week I wrote about the Bicolored Striped Sweat Bees that live in apartments. Today I’m writing about a bee that enjoys the bucolic log cabin lifestyle.
True that most sweat bees are ground-nesters, but not the Augochlora pura. Pure Greens prefer to build their nursery chambers inside rotting logs and under loose tree bark. They use mud and chewed wood to glue their brood cells together. We like to think of ourselves as a sophisticated society, especially when paying a premium for that coveted “log cabin” aesthetic. It is a brilliant display of human hubris, considering a creature the size of a fingernail has been living that exact sustainable lifestyle under the bark for generations without a single interior decorator.
The Pure Green in these photographs, is a female, confirmed by the “antenna test” — if you look at her head in the photo, her antennae are relatively short, neat, and curl downward ever so slightly. Male sweat bees have longer, extended and much more prominent antennae.
Today’s beauty is visiting our asters which are an absolute lifeline for pollinators preparing for the cold months ahead. The active bees we see at this time of year are almost exclusively foundresses (fertilized females). They are working tirelessly to drink nectar and build up their fat reserves so they can successfully hibernate through the upcoming winter.
Precious Gem
A flash of brightest emerald, a spark of living jade,
Came dancing through the lane today before the shadows fade.
No stripes of white, no bands of gold upon her brilliant frame,
Just solid, gleaming iridescence, worthy of her name.
She hovered by the asters, a jewel on the wing,
A tiny, airborne miracle that made my glad heart sing.
She paused within the autumn light, a solitary queen,
The loveliest little foundress that I have ever seen.
I held my breath and clicked the lens to catch her mid-ascent,
A flawless piece of artistry that nature kindly sent.
And now in my photo album, her colors will endure—
My first, sweet autumn meeting with Augochlora pura.
’Til next time, y’all…
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