Blue-banded Bee (7/7)

Hymenoptera: Apidae

Amegilla sp  

I have mixed emotions about blackberries. They grow wild in my garden and, not being a fan of the use of poisons, I spend hours trying to control them by more physical methods. These sort of tasks I don't find unpleasant except blackberries are very good at extracting revenge and I seldom return to the house unbloodied by contact with the thorns.

Come fruiting time, my enthusiasm for culling blackberries wanes in proportion to my waxing enthusiasm for picking the juicy berries and adding them to my breakfast. Small birds also enjoy the fruit and here, a native Blue-banded Bee is approaching a blackberry flower seeking a feed of nectar.