Help with bee/hornet ID. Chicago area

[KristinLauman]

<p>I apologize, these images aren't that great due to slow shutter speeds. I was just curious about this (very fast) bee but I couldn't get an ident on it from my books or the web.</p>

<p>Behavior: This guy was 80% centurion and 20% pollen collector. Mostly it spent time defending a patch of flowers against bumble bees. It made several attacks on visiting bees and even gave me a couple of warning fly-by's. It has to be some sort of wasp or hornet. From the top, it has a different pattern than most yellow jackets. The black almost forms an hourglass shape. But its the white underbelly that's really throwing me.</p>

<p>If you know of really good bee / wasp / hornet ID sites I'd love to hear of them. I haven't found "the one." yet.<br /> <img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/13628352-lg.jpg" alt="" width="627" height="800" /></p>

<p> </p>

[KristinLauman]

<p>The Attack...</p><div></div>

[steve_levine]

<p>It's a common yellow jacket, the 2nd is a carpenter bee.</p>

[KristinLauman]

<p>Thanks Steve, but its not a yellow jacket. I found an identification with help on bugguide.net. This is a variety of leafcutter bee known as Anthidium Manicatum. It is not a native species to North America but was brought here in the 60's. It does have some similarities to a yellow jacket, the patterning as well as the white underside of the abdomen are unique to this particular bee. Read more here if interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthidium_manicatum.</p>

<p>The bee it is attacking is actually a bumble bee. I did not dig into the exact taxonomy of this particular one, but carpenter bee's have very little fur on their abdomen, while this guy was very fuzzy--and also too small to be a carpenter. The fur is the best way to distinguish them.</p>

[derek_thornton1]

<p><br />Good job Kristin! I was going to recommend bugguide.net to you. It is a great site. Personally, I love doing the detective work, it is as fun as taking the pictures!</p>

[john_fleetwood]

<p>The scientific name should be in italics, <em>Anthidium manicatum, </em>with the genus only capitalized. On the rare occasions binomials appear in newspapers or pop magazines, the convention is rarely followed, due to poor editing. Since this is a nature forum, it would be good to see correct usage.<br>

I'll get off my soapbox now, and go get some more coffee. </p>

[KristinLauman]

<p>John, thanks for the information and correction. I'm just starting to become interested in taxonomy, but I fumble my way through it for sure.<br /><br />The more animals and bugs I was photographing, the more I realized it is important to have an understanding of what I am photographing. I've found I really enjoy learning about the behaviors of different species. Its also increased my awareness of the environment--especially the impact of non-native species and habitat changes on a community. </p>

[john_fleetwood]

<p>Good luck and have fun, Kristin. Watch out for bees and wasps that prefer not to have their pictures taken!</p><div></div>