Cory S. Sheffield 🇨🇦🐝🌺📸🎸🎨
@corysheffield.bsky.social
Dad, Royal Saskatchewan Museum curator, #entomologist & #bee research scientist, with a love of #nature, #photography, and #art. Views my own. Bees of Canada: https://www.beesofcanada.com/ and Bee Higher Classification: https://anthophila.myspecies.info/
#Honeybee colonies swarm when the colony gets too large, with 1/2 the colony’s workers + the old queen leaving to find a suitable cavity; this is what I though was happening in the first photo. However, open-air colonies are rarely observed in regions with cold winters like SK. #saskatchewan
November 14, 2025 at 11:09 PM
#Honeybee colonies swarm when the colony gets too large, with 1/2 the colony’s workers + the old queen leaving to find a suitable cavity; this is what I though was happening in the first photo. However, open-air colonies are rarely observed in regions with cold winters like SK. #saskatchewan
The beautiful nighttime sky of Saskatchewan tonight #northernlights
November 12, 2025 at 1:22 AM
The beautiful nighttime sky of Saskatchewan tonight #northernlights
November 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
It’s great to be in Calgary, Alberta for the Entomological Society of Canada’s Annual Meeting. I will be talking about my research on one of my favourite groups of #bees @canentomologist.bsky.social
October 5, 2025 at 2:53 AM
It’s great to be in Calgary, Alberta for the Entomological Society of Canada’s Annual Meeting. I will be talking about my research on one of my favourite groups of #bees @canentomologist.bsky.social
🧪 Looking forward to going through this beautiful #book on #insect #architecture @princetonupress.bsky.social
September 18, 2025 at 5:44 PM
🧪 Looking forward to going through this beautiful #book on #insect #architecture @princetonupress.bsky.social
September 5, 2025 at 12:49 AM
What perfect album came out when you were 16?
August 30, 2025 at 2:30 AM
What perfect album came out when you were 16?
This cool new #graphicnovel is a great introduction to the importance of #insects. I am about 1/2 way through and am enjoying the #artwork, and the to the point way it is communicating important information about my favourite group of animals! #entomology #books #sciArt
August 30, 2025 at 2:19 AM
This cool new #graphicnovel is a great introduction to the importance of #insects. I am about 1/2 way through and am enjoying the #artwork, and the to the point way it is communicating important information about my favourite group of animals! #entomology #books #sciArt
The abundance of male Bombus bimaculatus is providing a lot of opportunities for crab spiders in our garden. It is only in the last decade we have found this #bumblebee species in SK and it is spreading quickly, now as far north as Nipawin, and now maybe our most common in the south. #beesofcanada
August 9, 2025 at 2:55 PM
The abundance of male Bombus bimaculatus is providing a lot of opportunities for crab spiders in our garden. It is only in the last decade we have found this #bumblebee species in SK and it is spreading quickly, now as far north as Nipawin, and now maybe our most common in the south. #beesofcanada
No, just using a macro lens with flash and a diffuser
August 4, 2025 at 5:34 PM
No, just using a macro lens with flash and a diffuser
🧪 This is Stenotritus taylor Houston, 2025, only the 12th species in the genus, and one of only 22 species in the bee family Stenotritidae. No new species of Stenotritus has been described since 1935! This photo by Gary Taylor, from Terry Houston’s recent paper: search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/...
August 4, 2025 at 4:18 PM
🧪 This is Stenotritus taylor Houston, 2025, only the 12th species in the genus, and one of only 22 species in the bee family Stenotritidae. No new species of Stenotritus has been described since 1935! This photo by Gary Taylor, from Terry Houston’s recent paper: search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/...
Animals as beautiful as these greenbottle flies (Lucilia sp.) are likely in your back yard at this moment! #diptera #insects #macrophotography #backyardbugs
August 4, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Animals as beautiful as these greenbottle flies (Lucilia sp.) are likely in your back yard at this moment! #diptera #insects #macrophotography #backyardbugs
What a beautiful bee the female of Megachile pugnata Say is. #bees #leafcutterbees #Hymenoptera #beesofcanada
August 3, 2025 at 11:11 PM
What a beautiful bee the female of Megachile pugnata Say is. #bees #leafcutterbees #Hymenoptera #beesofcanada
August 1, 2025 at 3:50 PM
This male Megachile inermis Provancher is staying put for the night, so it allowed me to get a few more photos #beesofcanada #bees #leafcutterbee #macrophotography
July 30, 2025 at 2:45 AM
This male Megachile inermis Provancher is staying put for the night, so it allowed me to get a few more photos #beesofcanada #bees #leafcutterbee #macrophotography
This male Megachile inermis Provancher has been busy patrolling our raspberry flowers, and knocking other bees out of the way. #beesofcanada #leafcutterbee #macrophotograpy
July 30, 2025 at 12:29 AM
This male Megachile inermis Provancher has been busy patrolling our raspberry flowers, and knocking other bees out of the way. #beesofcanada #leafcutterbee #macrophotograpy
This beautiful chalcid wasp belongs to the genus Conura. The genus contains about 300 species, and are parasitoids/hyperparasitoids of a number of arthropod groups. This beautiful specimen was collected on gumweed flowers in Eastend, Saskatchewan. #wasps #hymenoptera #parasitoid #macrophotography
July 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
This beautiful chalcid wasp belongs to the genus Conura. The genus contains about 300 species, and are parasitoids/hyperparasitoids of a number of arthropod groups. This beautiful specimen was collected on gumweed flowers in Eastend, Saskatchewan. #wasps #hymenoptera #parasitoid #macrophotography
Today while it was raining, I was sitting in our screen room and was looking at the #biodiversity on the underside of the leaves of Virginia Creeper, and noticed the #larva of a green lacewing, and lucky for you, I took photos of these formidable little predators! Enjoy! #macrophotography #insects
July 19, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Today while it was raining, I was sitting in our screen room and was looking at the #biodiversity on the underside of the leaves of Virginia Creeper, and noticed the #larva of a green lacewing, and lucky for you, I took photos of these formidable little predators! Enjoy! #macrophotography #insects
The Hylaeus are flying in Saskatchewan, and Hylaeus annulatus (Linnaeus) are all over (and inside of) our raspberry flowers. #beesofcanada #maskedbees #rubus #raspberry #macrophotography
June 13, 2025 at 10:22 PM
The Hylaeus are flying in Saskatchewan, and Hylaeus annulatus (Linnaeus) are all over (and inside of) our raspberry flowers. #beesofcanada #maskedbees #rubus #raspberry #macrophotography
Our resin bees continue to emerge from nesting tubes; this beauty is a female Heriades carinata #beesofcanada #resinbees #macrophotography
June 12, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Our resin bees continue to emerge from nesting tubes; this beauty is a female Heriades carinata #beesofcanada #resinbees #macrophotography
In the Great Sandhills of SK we observed many cool bees, including Lasioglossum pictum, on wild rose. The type series was also caught from rose, though it visits other plants. This colourful little bee also tends to nest in sandy areas. #beesofcanada #sweatbees #macrophotography #sanddunes
June 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
In the Great Sandhills of SK we observed many cool bees, including Lasioglossum pictum, on wild rose. The type series was also caught from rose, though it visits other plants. This colourful little bee also tends to nest in sandy areas. #beesofcanada #sweatbees #macrophotography #sanddunes
We were very excited to find Dielis plumipes in the Great Sand Hills and Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park. There are no published accounts of this species in Canada west of southern Ontario, though I subsequently discovered a few records from Saskatchewan on iNaturalist. #coolwasps #wasps
June 7, 2025 at 12:08 AM
We were very excited to find Dielis plumipes in the Great Sand Hills and Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park. There are no published accounts of this species in Canada west of southern Ontario, though I subsequently discovered a few records from Saskatchewan on iNaturalist. #coolwasps #wasps
Look at the ocelli on this female Andrena ceanothi Viereck - the anterior ocellus and one of the laterals have fused into one large, irregular lens. There are three females in this series, though only one has this condition, and it is also the only one that is stylopized. #beesofcanada #mutant #bees
June 2, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Look at the ocelli on this female Andrena ceanothi Viereck - the anterior ocellus and one of the laterals have fused into one large, irregular lens. There are three females in this series, though only one has this condition, and it is also the only one that is stylopized. #beesofcanada #mutant #bees
This colourful bee is Andrena erythrogaster, a rather common spring species in Canada. It is a common visitor of willows (Salix), but also uses pollen from cherry (Prunus), Saskatoons (Amelanchier), and hawthorn (Crataegus). #beesofcanada #bees #macrophotography
May 29, 2025 at 8:05 PM
This colourful bee is Andrena erythrogaster, a rather common spring species in Canada. It is a common visitor of willows (Salix), but also uses pollen from cherry (Prunus), Saskatoons (Amelanchier), and hawthorn (Crataegus). #beesofcanada #bees #macrophotography
Look closely at the oil-glands at the base of this Lysimachia flower. The oil is used for larval food by Macropis nuda, and helps line and water-proof the natal cells in the soil. The female bee has specialized hairs on the hind legs for carrying the oil to the nest. #oilbee #beesofcanada #bees
May 25, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Look closely at the oil-glands at the base of this Lysimachia flower. The oil is used for larval food by Macropis nuda, and helps line and water-proof the natal cells in the soil. The female bee has specialized hairs on the hind legs for carrying the oil to the nest. #oilbee #beesofcanada #bees