Favoritos de leejones

small red-necked pollen-eater - Malachiinae

EDIT: More photos uploaded at this (http://www.ispot.org.za/node/204065) observation

Small beetle, roughly 3-4mm. Can fly. Metallic (or is that iridescent?) green, pitted elytra, which do NOT appear to be striated (although I could be SO wrong). Bright orange / red smooth (unflanged) pronotum - which appears almost bulbous. Pollen feeder. Seen to be active on roses as well as on Asteraceae, but mostly seen on Arctotheca calendula.

Have hunted for a source for this beetle ID and have narrowed it down to possibly being Cleridae OR Meloidae OR Melyridae OR Malachiidae - but it may well be something completely different.

All I have proved to myself is 1) that the taxonomy for the Coleoptera is due for a HUGE shakedown and 2) that beetle diversity is quite incredible. Have taken a flyer here on family...

The closest photo I have yet found (for South Africa) Was this one by Colin - for a species he names as Spilocephalus viridipennis but I am fairly sure that this is not the species here

One of a number of Xylocopa individuals nesting in Phragmites stems. The stem in question was roughly 15-18mm diameter (at most). The Carpenter Bee is not much larger than a Cape Honeybee - probably about 1 and a third times a honeybee's size. I have a suspicion that it might be Xylocopa scioensis because there was a population of these critters in the Phragmites stand (but also because of the GISS).

It may well be a different Xylocopa. Seriously cute little things - X. caffra mini-me

X. caffrariae is a synonym of X. scioensis (see nesting info in:

[J. enl. Soc. sth. Afr. 1974
Vol. 37, No.2, pp. 261-281
Biology and behaviour of Carpenter
bees in southern Africa
by R. H.WATMOUGH]