Suddenly, a dark lumpy shape buzzed past me. Whoa, big fella! Let me get out of the way for you! Another body zoomed past.
I jumped.
However, neither had any interest in me or my sister.
These rotund carpenter bees had other fish to fry today.
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| Carpenter bees, Missouri. May 2018. |
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| Carpenter bees, Missouri. May 2018. |
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| Carpenter bees, Missouri. May 2018. |
In the first photo above, the male did connect briefly with the female. Then they parted and the male began to hover near the female, waiting for her to take flight again, which is what he particularly enjoys seeing happen. My video of same below:
From wikipedia, re: mating behavior:
Males require female activity, specifically flight, in mating. Occasionally before mating, the couple will face each other and hover for a few minutes. When the male contacts the female, he mounts her back and attempts to push his abdomen under hers. Copulation occurs at this instant, and it is almost always followed by more mating attempts. If, during copulation, the female lands, the couple will disengage and the male will hover waiting for the female to take flight again;however, although the males almost always disengage and pause copulation when the female lands, there have been instances recorded in which the males will hold on to the female with all six legs and flap his wings in an attempt to lift her back into the air.
Someone else got a video of a liaison in another state:
In this video, the male seems to be OK with hanging on while the female walks along the surface.
Spring love. Reminds me of that time in New Mexico. February, it was. Sex Amidst the Gravel.
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