Who is this bee?

[Allyn Weaks <allyn@tardigrade.net>]

I had a few of these bees last year on the goldenrod.  They must have
have gotten what they wanted because this year there are a few dozen at
least!  They like the yarrow a lot, too.  They're about 3/4 inch long
or so (a guess, so salt it well).  No visible hairs on the upper body,
very yellow round face with dark spots at the base of the antennae,
yellow and black striped abdomen, yellow wider than black, and shiny.
Pollen basket seems to be under the abdomen.  They spend a fair amount
of time flying and perching near the ground (I have to be careful not
to step on them), which makes me wonder if they burrow. though I
couldn't find any holes.  I suppose I should collect one, but I always
hate to do that.

<http://tardigrade.org/corkboard/shiny-bee1.jpg>
<http://tardigrade.org/corkboard/shiny-bee2.jpg>


Sunday was a pretty good multi-legged day overall:

Several bee species on the goldenrod, tiny dark ones through big black
bumbles.  I think some are leaf-cutters.  All were very careful to
cluster on the flowers that I didn't have the camera aimed at.

A longhorned? beetle (1/2-3/4 inch, dark brown with gold markings) on
yarrow, a little too quick for me to catch it in a baggie for a closer
look.

Another longhorned beetle crawling around on the ground; a wasp mimic,
possibly Leptura obliterata, one of which I collected a few years ago.

My first ichneumon if one can judge by an ovipositor slightly longer
than the body, which was about an inch long, slender, and black
(perched on a hazel leaf just out of reach).

A couple of bee-flies, a bunch of hover flies, a Lorquin's Admiral
passing through, white-face hornets, several kinds of paper wasp, three
magpie moths, and the usual dancing midges.
-- 
Allyn Weaks    allyn@tardigrade.net   Seattle, WA  Sunset zone 5
Pacific NW Native Wildlife Gardening: http://www.tardigrade.org/natives/
"The benefit of even limited monopolies is too doubtful, to be opposed
to that of their general suppression."  Thomas Jefferson