Although often considered a subspecies or synonym of Anthidiellum notatum, Sheffield and Heron (2018), based on distinct differences in the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene that resulted in two distinct Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) (see Sheffield et al. 2017), agreed with Urban (2001) and considered the western A. robertsoni a separate species from the eastern A. notatum. #beesofcanada #BeesOfMastodon #dnabarcoding

A few years back we recorded Habropoda miserabilis (Cresson) for the first time from Canada, but since that time have determined that some females of this species occur as melanistic forms, the extent on the black hair seemingly linked to geography, and all females at each site similar in appearance. As far as we know, these melanistic forms occur only on the west coast of Canada. #bees #macrophotography #beesofmastodon #beesofcanada #melanism

A rather common #bee in the Canadian #prairies, Andrena lupinorum Cockerell visits #flowers of a number of #plant species, including the nonnative species, Convolvulus arvensis. #macrophotography #minerbees #bees #beesofcanada