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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Anthophila (Apoidea) - Bees » Leaf-cutter bees, Mason Bees, and allies (Megachilidae) » Megachilinae » Anthidiini » Anthidium » Wool Carder Bee (Anthidium manicatum)
Photo#333548
Wool Carder? - Anthidium manicatum - male
Copyright © 2009 Don Patterson

Wool Carder? - Anthidium manicatum - Male
Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, USA
August 2, 2009
Size: 18 mm
Can someone confirm this is a male Anthidium manicatum on the coneflower (Echinacea var)?

Shot taken on the only day I saw this guy rest for more than a few seconds, and after he'd put in several weeks of day-long activity, mating and defending his chosen patch of hyssop (Hyssopus var). It was also the last day this summer I saw a wool carder male of this size. After seven to ten days of no carder activity, male or female, some marginally smaller males showed up and began patrolling the same patch of hyssop -- new generation?

Images of this individual: tag all
Wool Carder? - Anthidium manicatum - male Wool Carder? - Anthidium manicatum - male
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Contributed by Don Patterson on 16 September, 2009 - 1:03am
Last updated 16 September, 2009 - 8:05pm

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Don Patterson, 16 September, 2009 - 8:05pm login or register to post comments

Yes
Your ID is spot on. Can't say more than that, my experience with this species is minimal.
… Eric R. Eaton, 16 September, 2009 - 8:20am login or register to post comments

 
Thanks
That was an amazingly fast reply.

I was hoping I wasn't right on the ID. And I hope your experience in AZ with these guys remains minimal. The subject in the photos above cleared every non-conspecific bee roughly his size or larger (up to and including carpenter bees) out of his chosen patch of hyssop for weeks on end.

He performed like an attack helicopter in close ground support: hovering, yawing, and swooping in. To my unaided eye, he appeared to be trying to mate with any bee that even vaguely resembled a female wool carder -- without a slo-mo cam I can't be sure he wasn't doing just that. Understandably, his approach tended to put bees other than wool-carder females off their feed.
… Don Patterson, 16 September, 2009 - 8:03pm login or register to post comments

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