Favoritos de klittle2

Accidentally disturbed from under a rock. Perhaps it was waiting out the cold weather? It was barely active so I got pictures from multiple angles that are harder to catch without chilling or killing the bee.

On Dalea purpurea in a sand prairie and old field. Dalea purpurea was planted as part of restoration of this area, though it certainly might have grown there at some point in the past. The bot suggest M. pugnata, but to me it seemed more like a resin bee, so I'm suggesting subgenus Chelestomoides. Looking at BG, the two elongated white dots on the front of the scutum and the transverse pale line across the top of the thorax looked a lot like the markings on Megachile chilopsidis, a species from far to the southwest -- perhaps one that's related though. A robust megachile with a chunky head and big mandibles.

Seen while conducting a quick Bioblitz near Kensington Park Elementary School. I noticed this area had good tree canopy through Google maps so decided to come check it out. It also had a nice weedy area with plenty of insects.

Observations from today: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=25.783239721297168&nelng=-80.23795067332685&on=2020-11-25&order_by=observed_on&place_id=any&swlat=25.780582988587906&swlng=-80.24815916083753&user_id=joemdo&verifiable=any