Explore Outdoors ~ a Bee Beetle

 

This beetle sorta, kinda, maybe if you aren't looking too closely, looks like a bee. The stripes and fuzzy butt do mimic a bee. Look closely at the antennae, and you see that it's a scarab beetle. I found it hanging out on Queen Anne's lace, stuffing its face with blossoms. Queen Anne's lace is a great flower for pollinator habitat - wasps and flies and bees of all types visit.

This week, look for Queen Anne's lace along the roadside, at the edges of mowed areas in parks, in your back yard, or wherever you find weedy patches. Check out the insects gathering on top - and beneath the umbel (some like the shade).