Hard Rock HotelBack in the early 1980s, Frank Parker, an entomologist, discovered some odd little be

Hard Rock HotelBack in the early 1980s, Frank Parker, an entomologist, discovered some odd little bees that were nesting in the sandstone in the San Rafael Desert of Utah. These particular bees like to pick at vertical sandstone cliff faces creating tiny holes they use as nesting sites. Parker studied a couple blocks of the sandstone until the bees emerged from the rock. Michael Orr recently began fieldwork studying other bees and had to learn more about Anthophora pueblo species, which have also been found in southwest Colorado and within Death Valley in California. Orr stated, “One of the greatest moments for me of this project was going back and revisiting that site from almost 40 years ago and just walking up and the bees are still there. They’re still using this same spot.”The Anthophora pueblo appear to be solitary nesters, though they build them close together in the same rock formation. It has been reported that these bees prefer the sandstone even when softer dirt is available. Gnawing into the sandstone is a difficult process for the insect and older bees are seen with worn-out mandibles. These rocky burrows provide shelter for other insects that don’t have the ability to dig through rock on their own. According to Orr, at least twenty different species have been documented using the holes, including other bee species, spiders and wasps. They are usually found in natural rock formations but some nests have been seen in the ancient Pueblo dwellings made with human hands.Orr and his colleagues plan to track the species as they live day by day, with hopes of finding answers to whether the bees are entirely solitary or what their cooperative efforts might be. Orr is working on recruiting the local Native American community for involvement in the study. With help from tips, he has now found more than 50 new nesting sites!–MiImage Credit – http://bit.ly/2cJiTWfSource – http://bit.ly/2cS0YKz -- source link

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