Images

Lasioglossum birkmani, Big Thicket National Preserve

Lasioglossum pictum, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan

The little metallic members of Lasioglossum all tend to look alike until you put them under the scope, once you do you see that some of them don't have pollen carrying hairs .... such as this L. platyparium. Those are members of the genus that are cleptoparasitic on other Lasioglossum.

Forgot to upload this one a while back. Just a friendly cleptoparasitic Lasioglossum, hanging out on a pin.

The little metallic members of Lasioglossum all tend to look alike until you put them under the scope, once you do you see that some of them don't have pollen carrying hairs .... such as this L. platyparium. Those are members of the genus that are cleptoparasitic on other Lasioglossum.

A rather ratty specimen of Lasioglossum prasinogaster. This one collected at Fossil Butte National Monument. One of hundreds of species of this genus...most of whose life histories are unknown but who are one of the mortared bricks of the earth's insect and plant spheres. Picture by Brooke Alexander.

sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan

sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan

From Mount Washington in New Hampshire. A new species for New England this species has a boreal distribution and probably is a hold out from colder days, eking out a living in the White Mountains until global climate change turns it into a jungle.

Rare. This small little Lasioglossum sequoiae is all black. This particular specimen was collected in the San Juan Islands of Washington in the National Historic Park and identified by the fabulous Jason Gibbs. This represents a major range extension for all the previous specimens we are aware of are known from California.

Here is a little tiny nest parasite, Lasioglossum simplex, that parasitizes one of its sister taxa (likely L. trigeminum). While it retains the overall look and feel of its pollen carrying upright relatives, it has no pollen carrying hairs and its mandibles lack the tooth at the end and instead are simple sabres...

A rather lovely Lasioglossum from Bryce Canyon National Park (L. sisymbrii) als black and white stripes. Common in the West...leaking a bit into the plains, but not much.

Lasioglossum sopinci, male

Lasioglossum fuscipenne, Beltsville, Maryland, June Collected by Francisco Posada

Queens New York has rare bees. In this case this Lasioglossum georgeickworti was found at the very tip of breezy point, which for some reason has escaped development and remains a very high quality natural area, filled with dunes and rare bees. Photograph by Brooke Alexander.

Captured as part of a Global Climate Change investigation in National Park Dune systems, yet another tricky Dialictus is photographed here. As the name suggests it is a lover of salt, in this case, salt marshes.. Photograph taken by Kamren Jefferson, bee captured in Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve

Captured as part of a Global Climate Change investigation in National Park Dune systems, yet another tricky Dialictus is photographed here. As the name suggests it is a lover of salt, in this case, salt marshes.. Photograph taken by Kamren Jefferson, bee captured in Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve

From Bryce Canyon National Park, comes one of the many many Lasioglossum that inhabit the continent. Often generalist pollination workhorses, they keep Bryce Canyon going without a lot of fanfare.

Bryce Canyon national Park in Utah has yet another small black bee, this could probably be said of any national Park but in this case it is Lasioglossum heterorhinum. Which has both a complicated and mellow name. Photographed by Brooke Alexander.

Male Lasioglossum can be tricky. Here is one of the dark ones from the highly bee productive Fossil Butte National Monument.

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