El Mesteño Ranch™ and Arboretum https://elmestenoranch.com/ Hidalgo County, Texas Sun, 25 May 2025 16:34:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://elmestenoranch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/cropped-20180808_093253-1-32x32.jpg El Mesteño Ranch™ and Arboretum https://elmestenoranch.com/ 32 32 194751585 Mesoxaea texana update from the South Texas Sand Sheet, and guess what? The Protoxaea gloriosa are back!!!!!!! https://elmestenoranch.com/2025/05/_/6217/ Sun, 25 May 2025 16:25:55 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=6217 by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist Dear Fellow Nature Enthusiast, As I was making the rounds on my little place out in the South Texas Sand Sheet on Saturday, May 17, 2025, scouting for bees, birds, butterflies, and blooms, I was ecstatic to see and record a male Mesoxaea texana (Mt) nectaring on Waltheria indica once again!  Just like clockwork, and according to the records I have been keeping in my phenology journal, it was time for Mt to return!    The male Mt, which I have affectionately nicknamed

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Male Protoxaea gloriosa nectaring on Waltheria indica on May 21, 2025! It’s been four long years since I last laid eyes on them!

by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist

Alternate view of the male Protoxaea gloriosa nectaring on Waltheria indica.
Protoxaea gloriosa caught in a Lynx spider’s deadly embrace circa May 2021.
Male Mesoxaea texana nectaring on Waltheria indica.

A slideshow for you:

Please stay tuned! There is more to come, and thank you for your time!

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“Male Mesoxaea texana on the South Texas Sand Sheet” https://elmestenoranch.com/2024/10/_/6191/ Tue, 08 Oct 2024 14:49:50 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=6191 by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist Male Mesoxaea texana nectaring on Waltheria indica. Thank you for visiting elmestenoranch.com!

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by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist

Male Mesoxaea texana nectaring on Waltheria indica.

“Knocking the competition off the bloom!”

Thank you for visiting elmestenoranch.com!

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“Female Mesoxaea texana on the South Texas Sand Sheet” https://elmestenoranch.com/2024/10/_/6166/ Tue, 08 Oct 2024 14:32:49 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=6166 by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist Female Mesoxaea texana nectaring on Waltheria indica. Thank you for visiting elmestenoranch.com!

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by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist

Female Mesoxaea texana nectaring on Waltheria indica.

Thank you for visiting elmestenoranch.com!

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“Making more Mesoxaea texana on the South Texas Sand Sheet” https://elmestenoranch.com/2024/10/_/6141/ Mon, 07 Oct 2024 14:38:28 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=6141 May 28, 2023.

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by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist

Female: Shiny, black eyes ~~~ Male: Green, jewel-toned eyes
Front view of the two, conjoined Mesoxaea texana in the act of copulation.

These two remained conjoined for quite some time.

Rough estimates, based on the metadata for all images and videos taken that day, suggest that they were in this state for approximately several minutes.

I have been stewarding this land for these bees since the Fall of 2020.

Their watch, care, and preservation has turned into one of the main “Passion Projects” of this chapter of my life.

Stay tuned. There is definitely more to come.

Thanks for your time!

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“Mesoxaea texana nectaring on Waltheria indica on the South Texas Sand Sheet!” https://elmestenoranch.com/2024/09/_/6117/ Mon, 02 Sep 2024 03:38:17 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=6117 by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist

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by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist

He’s BACK!!!!!
A “hovering” display….
A green-eyed male Mesoxaea texana is a repeat visitor to the South Texas Sand Sheet!
This rare, ground nesting bee has earned a few terms of endearment: “MT” and “El Guapo!”

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“Tepanec Long-horned Bees Nectaring on Coma on the South Texas Sand Sheet,” by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist https://elmestenoranch.com/2024/08/_/5847/ Fri, 16 Aug 2024 15:44:59 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=5847 Tepanec Long-horned Bee ~ Melissodes tepaneca A Tepanec Long-horned bee enjoying a brief stop on a glossy, dark green Coma leaf. About the Texas native bee: “Abundant throughout the United States and Canada, these fast-flying bees are hairy and generally large. Males have extraordinarily long antenna.” Source: Wilson, Joseph S., and Olivia Messinger Carril.   “The Bees in Your Backyard:  A Guide to North America’s Bees.”  Princeton:  Princeton University Press, 2016.  “Melissodes means ‘bee-like.’ Meslissa means ‘bee’ and -odes means ‘looks like’ or ‘resembles.'” Source: Wilson, Joseph S., and Olivia Messinger Carril.   “The

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Tepanec Long-horned Bee ~ Melissodes tepaneca

About the Texas native bee:

Note: Less than twenty-four hours after its initial capture, this Tepanec Long-horned bee was returned, alive and unharmed, to the exact tree he was found on. He buzzed off without skipping a beat!

This particular bee was found nectaring on a Coma tree (Bumelia celastrina).

About the Coma tree:

Source: Richardson, Alfred, and Ken King.  “Plants of Deep South Texas.  College Station:  Texas A & M University Press, 2011. 
Tamaulipan Thornscrub is an endangered habitat.

Coma is an attractive evergreen tree that is part of the Tamaulipan Thornscrub habitat that dots the landscape out on the South Texas Sand Sheet.

A glimpse into the Tamaulipan Thornscrub on the South Texas Sand Sheet.
  • Bravo, Esteban. “Incredible Edibles of South Texas.” (What to Eat & How to Get It). Copy Zone. McAllen, Texas. 2013.
  • Peacock, Dexter and Forrest S. Smith.  “A Photographic Guide to the Vegetation of the South Texas Sand Sheet.” ” Texas A & M University Press.  College Station.  2020. 
  • Eason, Michael.  “Wildflowers of Texas.”  Timber Press Field Guide.  Timber Press, Inc.  Portland, Oregon.  2018
  • Richardson, Alfred, and Ken King.  “Plants of Deep South Texas.”  College Station:  Texas A & M University Press, 2011. 
  • Wilson, Joseph S., and Olivia Messinger Carril.   “The Bees in Your Backyard:  A Guide to North America’s Bees.”  Princeton:  Princeton University Press, 2016. 
A Texas native bee photographed on the exact same Coma Tree in 2022. Although the exact species of Texas native bee is unknown, those antennae are definitively characteristic of male Long-horned bees.

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“Roemer’s Acacia” by C.M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist https://elmestenoranch.com/2024/05/_/5909/ Sat, 18 May 2024 19:45:00 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=5909 Roemer’s Acacia Senegalia roemeriana “This is a prickly, 3-7 ft., round-topped shrub or, more rarely, a small tree to 20 ft. with spreading branches. Branchlets with scattered straight or recurved prickles. Leaves divided into numerous leaflets 1/2 inch long or less. Fragrant, cream to greenish flowers 3/8 inch wide arising mostly from the axils of the leaves are followed by a narrow, leathery fruit. Fruit a brown to reddish, flat, curved pod up to 4 inches long and 1 1/8 inches broad. Young trunks are covered with smooth bark, becoming scaly with age. Twigs are armed with short, curved

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Roemer’s Acacia

Exquisite blooms…
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center 
Native Plant Society of Texas

Texas Native Plant Database

Texas Native Plant Database

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“Blooms on the South Texas Sand Sheet,” by C.M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist https://elmestenoranch.com/2024/05/_/5888/ Sat, 18 May 2024 15:49:44 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=5888 Blooms on the South Texas Sand Sheet Want to share this with others? Archives

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Blooms on the South Texas Sand Sheet

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“Loeflingia Squarrosa” by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist https://elmestenoranch.com/2024/03/_/5823/ Thu, 07 Mar 2024 01:35:30 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=5823 Loeflingia squarrosa Spreading Pygymyleaf Family:  Caryophyllaceae (Pink Family) Flower Month:  February – August Bloom Color:  White, Yellow Duration:  Annual Growth Form:  Forb Armed / Unarmed:  Unarmed Leaf Complexity:  Simple Leaf Shape:  Subulate Size Notes: Up to 5” tall Fruit Type:  Capsule Online sources for the information presented in this photo story:

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Loeflingia squarrosa

Spreading Pygymyleaf

Online sources for the information presented in this photo story:

  1. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
  2. U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service
  3. United States Geological Survey
  4. Burke Herbarium Image Collection
  5. iNaturalist
Lovely microplant!

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“Cochineal Gallery” by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist https://elmestenoranch.com/2024/03/_/5813/ Wed, 06 Mar 2024 22:12:59 +0000 https://elmestenoranch.com/?p=5813 Cochineal Gallery of Images…

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Cochineal Gallery of Images…

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