Sticky and sweet?

  

Nice lighting on these Sticky Sand-spurrey plants (Spergularia macrotheca) this afternoon...including the glandular hairs (hence the common name).

The sand-spurrey flowers were being visited by these wonderful bees.  I'm not sure which species of bee this is, but it was fun to watch them probing the nectaries near the bases of the filaments:

 

 

The lily and the fly

 

 

Eric and I came across a nice patch of Death Camas or Fremont's Star Lily (Toxicoscordion fremontii, formerly Zigadenus fremontii) recently.  Eric wondered what might pollinate them.  I wasn't sure, but I had seen flies pollinating other lilies, so we started to look around.  

As we kneeled down for a closer view, we started noticing some small flies nestled among the petals of the lilies, and sometimes they'd rest out towards the tips:

 

  

With a zoomed in view, you could really see the pollen grains on the flies, especially on the thorax and the eyes:

 

 

Eric did a little research and narrowed down the identification to a group of hoverflies, perhaps in the genus Cheilosia.  These flies are sometimes referred to as "blacklets."  [If anyone knows more about these flies and can confirm the i.d., we'd appreciate any assistance.]

Here's another view, this time from the side.  It's fun to think about what a nice spot these flies have for feeding and resting as well as the assistance they provide to the lilies!

 

B & B

 

Whew, it's been a busy week, but here's a bee on a buckwheat for you!  Not sure which species of bee yet, but it's sipping nectar and acquiring pollen from Seaside Wild Buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium).  Photographed on Bodega Head on 11 July 2018.  [Click on the image for a larger version.]

So many choices

If you were a bee, which one would you choose?

 

Many coastal prairie wildflowers are having a great year.  On 16 April 2016, some native bees joined the "party":

 

Silver Bee (Habropodus miserabilis) landing on Cream Cups (Platystemon californicus)

 

Yellow-faced Bumblebee (Bombus vosnesenskii) visiting Sky Lupine (Lupinus nanus)

P.S.  Bee there, or be square!