2012/09/04

Mystery death of a Cuckoo Leafcutting Bee

Yesterday, after working from my office for a while, I went out behind the office building and looked for wildlife. First creature I saw was this Metallic Green Bee (Genus Agapostemon) visiting these aster flowers.

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Love its colour.

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Shortly afterwards, there was this Praying Mantis trying to blend into the vegetation.

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It wasn't too difficult to spot once you saw it.

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Damselfly flying around in a waterless area.

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Poor sulphur butterfly dead and jammed into someone's truck's front end.

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It was getting too warm so I started to head back to my office, but not before I saw this strange scene.

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It was a Cuckoo Leaf-cutting Bee (Genus Coelioxys) identifiable by its pointy black and white striped abdomen.  It was dead, but why was it hanging upside down on a branch and held on by its powerful mandibles?  It was so strange that I decided to take it with me.

Dead Coelioxys sp. attached to Sweet White Clover
I brought in my lens (with Raynox 250 attached) today and took the above photo.  The antennae were gone but it still makes an interesting sight.  I tried Googling the phenomenon but only came up with this similar image.  Not entire sure of what to make of this scene.  [Edit: My labmate suggests that this is the male's roosting posture and he probably died during his sleep.]

With autumn almost here, it makes sense for all the creatures to start migrating or dying off, I suppose.

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