Native Bee, Native Flower, Sunny California

Just a day in the life of a native bee on a native flower in native California.

Svastra obliqua expurgata, also called "the sunflower bee," absolutely loves Coreoposis californica, sometimes called tickseed.

If you were a plant, would you want to be called "tickseed?"

Probably not. But the name, "tickseed," is apparently derived from the Greek "koris," meaning bed bug, and "opsis," referring to a seed, or resemblance to a seed.

We prefer to call it "Coreopsis."

If you grow Coreopsis, forget about ticks and seeds and think about the bees.

Here's a female foraging on what looks like a pot of gold to us...