Lipotriches australica

Right alongside the Cerceris mounds are the perfectly round doors to bee burrows. And just like the Cerceris, this species nests in this same patch year after year.

Lipotriches australica

While female Green-and-Gold Nomia Bees spend their nights below ground, males cling to one another on low vegetation. There must be some protection in numbers, for the bees seem rather vulnerable out in the open. They’re sluggish in the cool of evening and males cannot sting. Indeed, I think a dawn patrol of fairywrens made short work of the cluster the morning after this shot was taken.