Long-horned bee approaching liatris
Melissodes sp.
Long-horned bee · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 26 July 2026
A male long-horned bee coming in to land on liatris in the July border, the antennae that give the group its name held out well ahead of the body. Long-horned bees are solitary bees of the eastern meadows, and liatris, the blazing star of the prairies, is one of the composites they specialise on.
The males provision no nest and carry no need for pollen, so they spend most of the day patrolling a good flower patch for females rather than foraging with any real purpose of their own.
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