15 min under a blooming Mesquite Tree

This spring, the mesquites in our area hardly sprouted any leaves, and definitely now flowering catkins. Only after the monsoon rains, the canope filled in, and now they are finally in bloom. This afternoon, I first noticed butterflies dancing around the top branches where most of the flowering is happening. American Snouts, of course, and Grey Hairstreaks that were ovipositing, I think.

Copestylum Flies in the marginatum group showed off their strange double antennae, a few tiny bees showed up. Mozena Coreid bugs found some very young mesquite beans to suck juices from

Up high I noticed big beetles flying - their narrow elytra spead out, the abdomen yellowish in the afternoon light. When they landed, they ran along the branches, sleek and dark and fast: Buprestids in the genus Hippomelas, species H. sphenicus, which is more coppery than its congenerics and powdered with orange exudant. It uses Mesquite as its host while H. planicauda prefers Mimosa.