Help...   I am writing a little bit about Psithyrus color patterns.
But I haven't personally seen many living Psithyrus.  I have noticed
that, in many of the museum specimes <i've seen of P. ashtoni and of
P. variabilis, the bee is brown, not black.  That is, both the hair
and the cuticle are medium brown.  I am wondering if this brown color
is an artifact - i.e., the bee was originally black, but it faded
while sitting in boxes with chemicals over the years - or if
live Psithyrus really ARE brown sometimes.  \
 
Has anyone seen a brown Psithyrus in the field?  I don't want to say
they are sometimes brown if it's not true.
 
(ps - this means you, if you've seen one - please... thanks.)
 
Liz Day
 
University of Illinois at Chicago
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