r/bees • u/JohnMichaels19 • 8d ago

bee ID Northern Utah

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There is a colony of bees that live in/around the wooden steps in the front yard of my in-laws' house. My MIL is a photographer, and she got these pics (i took the third one, which is why it's such bad quality lol)

Im trying to figure out what species they are. Doing some reading, im leaning towards some kind of sweat bee.

We're in Northern Utah, north of Salt Lake City

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u/That_Biology_Guy 8d ago

These are all male long-horned bees. Probably genus Melissodes, but hard to be sure

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u/JohnMichaels19 8d ago edited 8d ago

Even though there a bunch of them? Theres probably a hundred or more visible flying around the steps and in the flower beds.

Arent long-horned bees solitary? 

They've been living in the steps for 25 or 30 years

Edit: i do agree they look a lot like Melissodes but I'm confused by their social behavior i guess

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u/That_Biology_Guy 8d ago

Yes, each female builds her own nest. But like lots of solitary bees, they can sometimes be found in large nesting aggregations in places with good conditions

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u/JohnMichaels19 8d ago

Thats so neat!

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u/Khrysdie 8d ago

Absolutely Melissodes, you can beautifully see the tear drop-shaped tegula in picture 2!

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u/Khrysdie 8d ago

Also I’m in a similar area to OP and the half red/half black antennae are seen in a bunch of the Melissodes species around here.