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The first spring butterfly, the first spring bees and lilacs! #insects #bees #butterfly #lilac #flowers #photography #nature #spring #naturephotography
This photo shows a medium sized butterfly. It has a brown body and wings. The tips of its wings are black with white spots and it has an orange bar on each wing and at the back edge of the wing. It is a red admiral!
This photo shows pink flowers on a small tree. I believe it was a crab apple tree. A small shiny bee is digging for nectar in one of the blooms. I believe it is a blue mason bee (Osmia lignaria). It is one of the non-honeybee species that is cultivated for use in springtime agriculture.
This photo shows more pink crab apple blooms. A fuzzy golden bee hovers over one of the flowers. It has unusual wings; the front edge is dark and the back edge is transparent. I believe it is a dark edged bee-fly and it is a fly not a bee. The adult form drinks nectar and lays its eggs in or near the nest of a solitary bee (using its appearance to get close to the entrance). Its larvae then try to make their way to the bee grubs--if they find one, they latch on and slowly eat it. They overwinter in the nest as pupae and emerge in the spring as adults.
This photo shows lovely lavender/purple lilac flowers. I smelled them long before I saw them.
#photography #nature #naturephotography #Flowers #spring #insects #butterfly #bees #lilac
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