northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here's another Brown-belted Bumblebee I met last spring. About a decade and a half ago DreamWorks put out a Kung Fu Panda movie; is it time for a Kung Fu Bumblebee movie [1]? And if so, I'd imagine that our own Brown-belted Bumblebee would be a natural for the titular hero who "floats like a butterfly, stings like a bumblebee ". And I'd imagine the Asian Giant Hornet (aka "murder hornet") would be a more than reasonable villain.  Another choice might be a similar bumblebee that just barely includes New Jersey in its range, the Red-belted Bumblebee . Although it doesn't sound like every variety of martial arts recognizes a red belt, apparently kung fu does , where it's considered slightly higher than a brown belt [2]. Regardless of the bumblebee chosen, the star would probably be female since male bumblebees can't sting. I suppose the movie could be about a male bumblebee who, lacking the ability to sting, learns martial arts, but if you...

It looks like this Eastern Phoebe has caught a meal. Could it be a wasp? Although phoebes are tyrant flycatchers , I'm pretty sure they'll eat most insects including the hymenopterans . I think I see: A little bit of striping on the thorax, suggesting 1 of many bees/wasps or their mimics. An insect a little longer than a honeybee or bumblebee. This was the 2nd year in a row that I got a picture of a phoebe with food in its mouth . While we (correctly) think of phoebes as birds posing no threat to us, to many insects they are giant, ferocious predators. The Eastern Phoebe is almost certainly the tyrant flycatcher species I encounter the most, though Eastern Kingbirds and Great Crested Flycatchers aren't too hard to find either. May 18, 2023 at Willowwood Arboretum Photo 292812711, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)