Date: April 4. 2007
Updated June 1, 2010
Place: Washougal, WA
Field notes: Male Hornfaced Bee Mating with female Mason Bee
This is a male hornface (o. cornifron) on the back of a female mason be (o. lignaria). Through the years since 2007, I’ve also seen various osmia males jumping on other males, sometimes even practicing on a box elder beetle. I guess practice makes perfect
With music and sound effects, the mating of these two different species of solitary bees has been filmed. The Hornfaced male bee takes on the challenge of mating with a much larger female mason bee. He definitely accomplishes his goal. The end result remains to be seen, but I have been filming what I call a Gold-back Mason Bee which I will be posting soon.
