Urocerus californicus

Last month while hiking through Sequoia National Forest at about 7,000 feet, I came across this impressive horntail (Urocerus californicus). There were large cut fir trees and pines about and I expect that it was attracted to these. Horntails are our largest insects in the suborder Symphyta (in the order Hymenoptera). Immature stages feed in rotting wood. This individual was over an inch and a half long (larger with legs and antennae extended).

Horntails are related to bees and wasps. They are not nearly as frequently seen as their more familiar relatives because they don’t visit picnic sites or pollinate flowers. That said, we have several species in the US. My compliments to Nathan Schiff et al. who just recently (last month in fact) published a beautifully illustrated guide to our fauna in the Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification.

Bombus vosnesenskii

Our most common bumble bee in California is Bombus vosnesenskii. As you can see, it is quite attractive with its deep black base color and contrasting yellow abdominal band. It is one of 27 species that we have in the state.

This individual was out looking for nectar in January this year along the beach near Watsonville (Santa Cruz, County). This is one of the few bees that you can find at such times of the year. The habitat shot is of the ice plants along the beach where it was foraging.

Xylocopa varipuncta

The carpenter bee Xylocopa varipuncta is probably the biggest bee we have in California – bigger even than most bumblebees. It’s unusual as far as carpenter bees go because the male is a light orange/gold color with green eyes. Most carpenter bees are black.

In the last couple of weeks This bee has been buzzing resolutely around neighborhoods and parks looking for exposed wood to bore into. If your unlucky enough to have a vulnerable wood home, garage, or shed, you know the buzzing critters quite well. There are a handful of control options around but the best method I know of is the wood/plastic bottle trap that is just recently catching on. Type in “carpenter bee wood trap” in to your search engine or You Tube and you’ll find out how to make one (or several). They’re worth the time to make if you want to save your wood structures.