Osmia Avosetta Natural History Illustrations for Elementary's Bee

Summary: Elementary's Possibility Two Feb. 21, 2013, offers Sherlock Holmes a bee that few observe outside Osmia avosetta natural history illustrations.

An Osmia avosetta's nest constructed of flower petals and mud: J.G. (Jerome G.) Rozen, No usage restrictions, via EurekAlert!

Osmia avosetta natural history illustrations, photographs and texts address behaviors and bodies that affirm, or not, the species' appearances in the Columbia Broadcasting System's Elementary series episode Possibility Two Feb. 21, 2013.

Director Seith Mann and writers Robert Doherty and Mark Goffman bring the bee in as Gerald Lydon's (Dennis Boutsikaris) bequest to Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller). Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) and Sherlock check Lydon's contracting genetically conveyed cerebral amyloid angiopathy, contrary to CAA-free family medical history, in the first season's 17th episode. Lydon delivers one Osmia avosetta in a carryout container with wood bottom, wood corners to glassed-in 12- by 12-inch (30.48- by 30.48-centimeter) sides and wood top.

The episode's camera angles expedite exposure to an insect's loose figure-eight flight pattern without elucidating body colors, shapes and sizes in Osmia avosetta natural history illustrations.

Osmia avosetta figures among the finds of the last five to 25 years in terms of fathoming the bee's existence in 1988 and behaviors in 2010.

Klaus Warncke (May 14, 1937-Jan. 2, 1993), entomologist, melittologist (bee specialist) and ornithologist from Neutrelitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, gave descriptions and taxonomy for Osmia avosetta in 1988. Osmia avosetta natural history illustrations honor a bee that has the hallmarks of the Megachilinae subfamily of the Megachilidae family in the Hymenoptera order of insects. Big-lipped megachilin subfamily and megachilid family members innovate a structure identified as scopa ("broom") on the ventral (lower, under) surface of the abdomen for importing pollen.

Unlike Osmia avosetta natural history illustrations, other bee scientific drawings, photographs and texts juggle pollen into baskets and bristles on hind legs before journeying back home.

Scientists know of megachilin subfamily and megachilid family members as carders of animal-hair and plant-fiber nests, masons of leafy soil-dug nests and resin bees of tree-sap.

All megachilins and megachilids live on nectar and pollen and let loose lots of pollen through swimming-like motions in the reproductive structures of their floral hosts. They maintain Hymenoptera insect order membership through "married" (Ὑμήν [Hymen, "marriage song"]) fore- and hind-wings hooked together in flight and membraneous (ῠ̔μήν, hymen) wings (πτερόν, pterón). Osmia avosetta adults nestle among megachilin and megachilid hymenopterans as leafcutter and mason bees with membraneous fore- and hind-wings merged in flight and plant-made, soil-located nests.

Scientific research, not Osmia avosetta natural history illustrations and photographs or Elementary guest occurrences, observe the leaf-cutting mason bees operating actively two months in a year.

Researchers in Iran and Turkey simultaneously perceived same-patterned performances and published the performed patterns in American Museum of Natural History's Novitates no. 3680 March 24, 2010.

Osmia avosetta females queued petals into grounded nests before researchers Jerome Rozen, Jr., Hikmet Özbek, John Ascher, Claudio Sedivy, Christophe Praz, Alireza Monfared and Andreas Müller. The ground-nesting, secretive, solitary species refrains from social life cycles in above-ground colonies and hives and requires one- to two-chamber underground tunnels for their pre-adult stages. Osmia avosetta females shape shallow subterranean cells to shelter larvae, store larval food and seal with mud in-between folded-over sainfoin (Onobrychis) or sweet-vetch (Hedysarum) flower petals.

Sherlock treasures his Osmia avosetta even though Osmia avosetta natural history illustrations trend toward tunnel-friendly soils topped by flowering, leafy plants that never typify Holmes's brownstone.

In CBS Elementary's Possibility Two (season 1 episode 17), wealthy philanthropist Gerald Lydon sends an "exquisite" Osmia avosetta solitary mason bee as enticement for Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) to solve the mystery of his induced cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), normally a hereditary disease, while Sherlock keeps sending Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) to hone her detective skills by looking beyond a dry cleaners' banal routine: Elementary @ ElementaryCBS, via Facebook Feb. 20, 2013

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

An Osmia avosetta's nest constructed of flower petals and mud: J.G. (Jerome G.) Rozen, No usage restrictions, via EurekAlert! @ https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/22126.php?from=159847

In CBS Elementary's Possibility Two (season 1 episode 17), wealthy philanthropist Gerald Lydon sends an "exquisite" Osmia avosetta solitary mason bee as enticement for Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) to solve the mystery of his induced cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), normally a hereditary disease, while Sherlock keeps sending Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) to hone her detective skills by looking beyond a dry cleaners' banal routine: Elementary @ ElementaryCBS, via Facebook Feb. 20, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/ElementaryCBS/photos/a.151627898295663.14686.151013691690417/225325270925925/

For further information:

American Museum of Natural History. 4 May 2010. "Bees That Nest in Petals." EurekAlert!
Available via EurekAlert! @ https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-05/amon-btn050410.php

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. London England: George Newsnes Ltd., 1892.
Available via Project Gutenberg @ http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1661?msg=welcome_stranger

Elementary @ ElementaryCBS. 20 February 2013. "Missed last night's all new episode of Elementary?" Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/ElementaryCBS/photos/a.151627898295663.14686.151013691690417/225325270925925/

Kraus, M.; and Blank, S.M. 30 December 1994. "Dr. Klaus Warncke (*14.5.1937†2.1.1993) Nachruf und Bibliographie." Linzer Biologische Beiträge 26/2: 649-663.
Available @ http://www.zobodat.at/biografien/Warncke_Klaus.pdf

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"Possibility Two." Elementary: The First Season. Los Angeles CA: Paramount Pictures Corporation, Feb. 21, 2013.

Rozen, Jerome G., Jr.; Özbek, Hikment; Ascher, John S.; Sedivy, Claudio; Praz, Christophe J.; Monfared, Alireza; Müller, Andreas. 24 March 2010. "Nests, Petal Usage, Floral Preferences, and Immatures of Osmia (Ozbekosmia) avosetta (Megachilidae, Megachilinae, Osmiini), Including Biological Comparisons with Other Osmiine Bees." American Museum Novitates, no. 3680. New York NY: American Museum of Natural History.
Available @ http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/6043

Warncke, Klaus. 1988. "Die Bienengattung Osmia Panzer, 1806, ihre Systematik in der Westpaläarktis und ihre Verbreitung in her Türkei. 2. und 3. Die Untergattungen Tergosmia und Exosmia." Entomofauna, band 9, heft 20 (30 oktober 1988): 389-403. Linz, Austria: Maximilian Schwarz.
Available via Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum ZOBODAT (ZOologisch - BOtanische - DATenbank) @ http://www.zobodat.at/pdf/ENT_0009_0389-0403.pdf