Did you know that some bees have green speckled eyes? I was really startled by the brightness of this bee’s eyes as I was taking its photo last Monday while exploring in Prince William County, Virginia. Some research on-line revealed that this is a male Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica).
I was pretty sure that I had never before seen a bee like this, but I was wrong. As I was preparing this posting, I discovered that I had seen a similar bee in October 2012 and published a posting entitled “Green-eyed Eastern Carpenter bee.” Wow. It’s been a long time between sightings, so maybe I can be forgiven for having forgotten about the previous time, though at my age I can simply claim that I had a “senior moment.” Ages has its privileges.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Unique!
Definitely unusual. One of the main reasons why I love my macro lens so much is that it lets me see things like this.
What an amazing sight to bee-hold! I am bee-dazzled by those green eyes! I bee-lieve that Benjamin will love this bee-utiful photo, especially when enlarged! Thank-you, Mr. Mike!
Love the wordplays–I am personally addicted to bad puns.
For a moment after reading your response I was bee-reft and was going to bee-seech you not to bee-rate my poor attempt at humor, bee-cause I highly value your good opinion of me. Realizing I was just bee-fuddled, now I will bee-gone. But, rest assured that I will bee returning! Bee well! Thank-you, Mr. Mike!!
Those eyes are very pretty. They remind me of agate.
Call me clued in. I know I’ve never seen this before.
We are surrounded by amazing things and I am always surprised by the wonders that my macro lens reveals to me.
If you’re looking to get a close look at something, nothing beats looking closely. You can quote me on that.
🙂 Ah, it helps to look closely, but it requires a quiet and focused mind to see deeply.
Sooth.
Oooh
Wonderful macro, Mike! Close in those eyes are surely something remarkable!
A very unusual looking bee, Mike!
Wouldn’t it be fascinating to be able to tune in on what it sees through those amazing eyes? I have this thought quite often, especially when contemplating the eye anatomy of dragon- and damselflies, mantises, and–of course–spiders.
I have most often had that same thought when contemplating the amazing compound eyes of dragonflies that almost wrap around their heads. With all of the virtual reality technology around it seems like some sharp programmer would be able to figure out a way to simulate what they see. I guess, though, that our brains would have to be re-wired to interpret all of the data and I don’t think that I am willing to go that far. (FYI, I fixed the issue you raised in an e-mail to me.)
Amazing!
Fantastic image, Mike, and what a lovely color green.
Thanks, Ellen. The green was so striking that I initially doubted that it was actually a bee–I thought it might be some kind of bee mimic. However, when I poked around a bit on the internet, I learned that it was indeed a bee. As I’ve noted before, the more I get used to using my macro lens, the more things I discover that may have been present all along.
Oh yes, there is lots to see when we have the time and focus to look! Glad you are having some discoveries.
Jade eyes.
That’s precisely why I started my reading blog (nliakos,wordpress), I couldn’t remember what I had just read, let alone what I had read last month or last year! Now I have a record of pretty much everything I’ve read since 2006, plus (for nonfiction) a summary of the content or (for fiction) a synopsis. I refer to it often. I have never looked for an audience because my audience is me.
Love it.