2016 July 31

   Annie Pang sends pictures of bees.  Thanks to Linc Best for identifications.

Ceratina sp. (Hym.: Apidae)  Annie Pang

Halictus rubicundus (Hym.: Halictidae)  Annie Pang

Honey Bee Apis mellifera (Hym.: Apidae)  Annie Pang

Jeremy Tatum writes:  Today (July 31) I went to Cordova Spit in search of the Western Branded Skipper. I searched in the southeast corner of the spit, in an area where there are a few crabapple trees.  I looked for skippers nectaring on the Gumweed.  There were lots of hesperiine skippers there, and it was not always easy to see the underside of the hindwings, so a lot of them went unidentified.  I identified those that I could as Woodland Skippers.  I wondered if perhaps I was overlooking the target species or misidentifying the ones I had called Woodlands.  And then at last I saw a genuine Western Branded Skipper nectaring on the Gumweed.  On seeing the underside of the hidwings, there was no mistaking it – and I then realized that the ones I had been calling Woodlands were indeed Woodlands, and the Branded is quite different.

On the way back I saw one male Purplish Copper at Island View Beach.