Paranoid I must be, but I am beginning to think they are following me. The bees that is.
I posted on my Dasypoda hirtipes in my garden yesterday and raved about her “pantaloons” and today I go for a walk and meet another well-endowed bee.
I don’t think she is the same species but she is indeed gathering pollen or nectar from Centaurea cyanus which is in the Asteraceae family.
She is certainly a well-endowed bee on the hairy hind leg side. Her white pantloons give her a different look from the yellow ones I am used to seeing. Dasypoda hirtipes has an attractive ginger brown natural colouration to her hind leg hairs. I wonder if she could cover all that up with a mass of white pollen?
a french garden 
Love these recent “bee posts” of yours… some of the pix are truly wonderful… the “all-yellow” bee in the last post bee-ing but one… but surely it could be the same species… white pollen creating a different fashion in pantaloons?
I’m just about to post some lovely solitary bee evidence on Aigronne Valley Wildlife [it’ll be up there by morning… the Perseid Meteor Shower beckons… so I’m of to join Pauline and get bitten to death!]
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Just been finishing off details in the above mentioned post…
and noticed [in Chinnery] a Dasypoda that looks like the one above…
Dasypoda altercator… Orange haired thorax, B&W striped, smooth abdomen… and shown with exceptionally hairy, ginger hind legs.
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I think you are correct, she can have white pantaloons, it is just I have never seen it before.
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OMG just LOOK at those crazy-full POLLENPANTS!!
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One industrious bee!
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I had a friend who used to describe her legs as “thunder thighs”. I think this bee has her beat!
Lovely photos of an impressive haul.
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I have a lot of trouble identifying bees and wasps. I’m glad that you don’t!
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Amazing pantaloons!
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Really neat!
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All sorts of things crossed my mind when I read the title of this post . . . the ones I want to share are:
So, it’s not to bee,
They’ll make a spaghetti Western about it.
Who could it bee now?
Anyway, that is one interesting bee. I don’t see that many variations out here, but then I am not out there looking a whole lot.
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Thanks for the ideas of future post names! I think we miss a lot of bees. I have only started seeing them recently when I started to get interested in bumble bees.
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Amazing, the pollen looks like cotton wool.
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Pure cotton pantaloons.
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I think it’s probably D. altercator. Check out this photo from Le Monde des Insectes galerie. This is a site I would trust for IDs as they are very concientious and have some real experts on the forum.
Like yours the bee has been collecting from a flower with white pollen. I think that combined with the specimen having naturally rather pale or dull hairs might give you the white pantalons from time to time.
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Altercator is used as well as hirtipes for the same bee. There are other Dasypoda in France but I can’t see any that fit exactly. The ones in the garden have a discontinuous white line on their abdomen which is probably significant but I do not have a good key for Dasypoda. Just seen the link you sent me – a great pic and the first I have seen with seemingly white pollen sacs. I think you have solved it – most likely D. hirtipes/altercator.
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I so enjoy your bees, you must be very patient getting the images, they are always too fast for me to get any really good shots.
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I’m getting very into my bees so I’m glad it is not too much. Sometimes they get engrossed in their flowers but some of them are very quick off the mark.
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I’m amazed she can fly with that load! Lovely photos of her!
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I am amazed too, it doesn’t even slow her down.
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Nice thought to be followed by a bee 😉
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A bit weird, I admit, but I really enjoy seeing them in the garden and outside.
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Shouldn’t the pollen be a bit yellower? Or are those little furry white breeks extra thick? (Look like a pair of pussy willow catkins to me…)
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Her actual hairs are golden coloured, but Susan has sent me a photograph of the Abeille à culottes with white breeks so it looks like she gathers so much pollen that her legs take on the colour of the pollen she is gathering. This is frequently from the dandelion family so you see a lot of photographs of her with bright yellow breeks.
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It’s a Tetralonia most probably dentata, on its favorite plant.
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Thank you so much for taking the trouble and time to comment. I really appreciate your ID’s. Amelia
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