Eguzkilore, a culturally important flower in the Basque Country, visited by Bombus pascuorum. I'm sure a nice treat in an otherwise unusually dry environment... 📍Aizkorri-Aratz

Ugh, how can you not love leafcutter bees?

Amazing week of diving deeper into bee taxonomy and experiencing nice Dutch weather 🌸

Anthidium septemspinosum, one of my favorite Basque species 🖤

Carduus season has begun in Narvarra 🥵

Pyrenees in June ✨

Home from a beautiful week in Asturias for the forma iberica Dead Wood Course, always something new to learn! 🥵 Stimulating time talking about fungi, saproxylic insects and everything in between.

Two color forms of Anthophora plumipes, right in the garden 🥰

It's currently flowering season for Armeria euscadiensis, an endemic plant found only along the Basque coast (euskal itsas krabelina in #Euskara). A few pollinators were enjoying the view as well. 🌿

The cutest find in the field this week #firesalamander

Today's Easter egg is... another #fasciation find 🌿

So, what could these be? 😅 This Anthophora was covered in them.. (collected in Donostia).

Fascinating fasciation season is here 🌼🙏 The same patch by my house never fails with an assorted mix of oddities each spring.

Gorbeia Natural Park 🦋

First solitary bee of the year... 🐝 👀

New Basque children’s book, where the star is a Megachile 😍🌿🐝 | Malen Intsektuen Munduan, a story about pollination and the different pollinators here in the Basque Country 🌸

Favorite benches in my neighborhood (really holding back on a #lichen pun).

Best signs in my neighborhood…🪲🐸

Especially when you come across good mushrooms ... 😏🍄 #foraging

Never a bad day in the forest

For this #FlyFriday, I share a close up on the beautiful wings from some of our tiny pollinators collected in #Gorbeia Natural Park. 🪰

Good morning | Egun on 🌿

#Hedera attracts an array of pollinators this time of year, many of which we often overlook like the potter wasp Delta unguiculatum. [📍Tolosa, Gipuzkoa]

On the last day of fieldwork, #Gorbeia presented me the weirdest fly. I don’t know much about it except that it’s in the family Acroceridae. #FlyFriday 🪰

Carpets of #Colchicum montanum flowering in #Gorbeia 🌸

Sunset view of Aiako Harria from the home office 🌝

Some company while sampling… [Macroglossum stellatarum pollinating Cirsium eriophorum 🌸] #nationalmothweek #gorbeaNP

Polyommatus sp. resting on one of my favorite flowers, Eryngium bourgatii [photo from last August]. 🦋

It's currently pollinator paradise at one of my favorite survey sites in #Gorbeia. 🐝🌞🌿 [Osmia emarginata(?) on Lotus corniculatus, Bombus pascuorum on Teucrium pyrenaicum]

Putting the longhorn in longhorn beetle 🪲 [Morimus asper, 📍Artikutza]