A second feature of this past weekend was getting out to various gardens and plantings to see some flower visitors. I first stopped off at the Strathcona community garden, then some gardens near Commercial drive.
![IMG_8145](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8145.jpg)
Early morning on Echinacea: often bumblebees don’t make it home in the evening, and I find them dew-wettened, clinging to the flowers they were visiting the previous evening. They are in no mood to fly in this state, and I get the opportunity to experiment with lighting.
![IMG_8149](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8149.jpg)
With a diffused flash to the left, and a reflector card on the right, this bee gets the beauty treatment, despite her bad hair day!
![IMG_8162](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8162.jpg)
For some reason, this bumblebee looks to me like she is enjoying a belly laugh.
![IMG_8234b](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8234b.jpg)
The advantage of working with immobilized insects cannot be overstated. This shot mixes in the dawn light, hence the sunbeam!
![IMG_8172](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8172.jpg)
I found a few other creatures in the garden, such as this awesome sac spider.
![IMG_8197](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8197.jpg)
This flower longhorn was one of the few non-bee insects I ended up shooting at Strathcona.
![IMG_8211](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8211.jpg)
Here is a dew-wettened honeybee on some kind of mint.
![IMG_8269](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8269.jpg)
And a dry honeybee foraging on Echinacea.
![IMG_8299](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8299.jpg)
Later, during the heat of the day, I went to Grandview Park near Commercial Drive. This is our native paper wasp, Polistes aurifer.
![IMG_8288](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8288.jpg)
There were a whole lot of the introduced wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum) foraging and stalking on catmint. Here is a male on his lookout perch, where he watches for rivals and females to chase.
![IMG_8289](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8289.jpg)
One of the few times they are still is during copulation, wherein the male violently grabs the female while she feeds. I believe the white tuft on the male tibia has something to do with shading part of the female’s eye.
![IMG_8302](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8302.jpg)
They seem to be having a good time.
![IMG_8324](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8324.jpg)
I do not normally chill insects, but this male I chilled for a short time to see what would happen. they are normally out on such hot days, it stood to reason they would be sensitive to chilling. This procedure allowed about a minute of shooting, and in not such terrible positions either.
![IMG_8327](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_8327.jpg)
Here he is, looking fierce and about to fly off.
![IMG_9116](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_9116.jpg)
Booty duty: this natural light shot shows a megachilid with a scopa full of pollen.
![IMG_9128](http://ibycter.mango.mikeboers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/img_9128.jpg)
Pretty boy: finding the male of Agapostemon texanus is a wonderful thing. The combination of the striped abdomen and brilliant green is hard to resist. They would steal my heart from Coelioxys if they weren’t so damn fast!