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Photo#487703
Habropoda sp. female - Habropoda - female

Habropoda sp. female - Habropoda - Female
Red Bluff, Tehama County, California, USA
January 28, 2011
Size: 16mm
A female Habropoda sp. active in December and January apparently.. Any ideas as to species?

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Habropoda sp. female - Habropoda - female Habropoda sp. female - Habropoda - female

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

looks like H. depressa
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looks like H. depressa
Yes, the female does look like H. depressa, but the males appear very different from those pictured on this site and others in hair and macular coloration. The males of this species that I've been watching (see other pictures I posted) have yellow maculations, and vary widely from eachother in overall robustness, antennal length, and behavior. The larger males hover over the upper branches, in the open with hummingbirds and Bombus sp., while smaller males take up hovering positions lower near the lower branches, jockeying constantly for position with other males, while in rapid flight. Weirdly, the some of the smaller males have much longer antennae. I don't think I'm not confused about which species I'm looking at, there just seems to be a wide gradation in male morphology.

Maybe the picture of H. depressa (http://bugguide.net/node/view/51856) but lacks the yellow / reddish coloration of these other males. Is that just variation in H. depressa?

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