SNUGGLE BEES

Snuggle Bees

Photograph by Dino Martins

Traditionally, it's the birds and the bees that get all the attention—unless you're an entomologist. Then it's the bees and the bees, not to mention the flies and the wasps and the moths ... and, well, you get the picture. National Geographic Emerging Explorer Dino Martins gives us a look into the love lives of his favorite subjects.

Most species of bees on the planet are solitary and not social like honeybees. Among the solitary species, females have nests to return to at night, but males have nowhere to go and end up sleeping on vegetation. Sometimes males will huddle together for warmth and comfort. Here are two different species of male bees, an Amegilla bee on the right and a long-horn bee (Tetraloniella) on the left, that have snuggled up together on a stalk of grass in a sheltered spot under an acacia tree. The photo was taken in Laikipia, Kenya.