Chris Barnhart sent me photos of another invasive species he filmed at the Botanical Center. It’s the European wool carder bee Anthidium manicatum. A native of Asia, Europe and northern Africa, it was accidentally introduced into North America in the 20th century and has become a pest in some regions. It has been labeled "the most widely distributed unmanaged bee in the world."
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The males are very territorial, and attack other bees foraging in what they consider their territory. They have five sharp spines on the last segments of their abdomen which are used while defending their territory from other bees. (see photo above) There is concern that they might damage bumblebees and other native pollinators. Chris got this cool video of the carder male attacking which is at this Youtube link.
These are solitary, cavity-nesting bee species in the family Megachilidae, a family whose members include the mason and leaf cutter bees. The name "carder" comes from their behavior of scraping hair from leaves such as lamb's ears. Females have large mandibles with sharp teeth used for collecting and
manipulating plant trichomes (hairs) for their brood nests. They also have
short, dense, compact setae on their lower legs (the basitarsi) which
help to organize the collected plant fibers into a ball. They then carry this bundle beneath their bodies to be used as a nest lining. (Wikipedia)
There are more anatomical details at Featured Creatures including what impact they may have on our natives species. Carder bees tend to be more common in urban settings which tend to have more non-native flower species that they may be more adapted to. The amount of damage they cause from injuring bees, pollinating and spreading non-native plants and reducing bumblebee populations by aggressive competition is an ongoing question.
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All photos and video by Chris Barnhart.
