Longhorn bee on blue vervain

Melissodes sp.

Long-horned bee · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 12 July 2026

A long-horned bee working its way down a spike of blue vervain in the July border. Long-horned bees are solitary ground-nesters of the eastern meadows, and they specialise on the daisy family and the late-summer flowers of exactly this kind of native border.

Named for the males' notably elongated antennae. Vervain's small flowers open in a slow ring that climbs the spike over several weeks, a few at a time, rather than all at once, which is why a single stalk can keep producing usable flowers for a bee for most of the summer.