Images

From one of the coastal National Parks in St. John's County in Florida comes a lovely red-legged Lasioglossum tarponense. I think of this species as a sand specialist...living in the Florida scrubby sand coastal pine matrix that forms an important part of the natural matrix of the region behind the sand dunes.

Lasioglossum forbesii - A relatively uncommon sweat bee from near Front Royal, Virginia at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

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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Lasioglossum leucozonium

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, collected by Stephanie Wilson at the Morris Arboretum

Joan Milam collected this particular Lasioglossum. Darn if it doesn't look like all the rest of them. Photography by Brooke Alexander. Photography Information: Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200.

A bee of western North America. This one was captured in Bryce Canyon National Park, one of the larger "sensu strictu" group of Lasioglossums.

Here is a bee that clearly loves woodlands: Lasioglossum versans. In the obscure morphological vernacular of tiny sweat bees, I identify it by its tiny bulging purple "nose" (supraclypeus) and its complete lack of a hair fan on the base of T1.

Often the most common Lasioglossum at a location in the East. This is Lasioglossum versatum. While common it has the sad trait of sometimes looking like L. trigeminum or L. callidum or L. adimirandum. In isolation they all seem so separable, but since they often occur at the same site and have a tendency to look slightly similar it can be a nightmare.

Sand. The Golden Sand Loving Bee. When I think of bees that are sand loving I think of Lasioglossum vierecki. For one, how nice to have a golden orange bee to look at. For second it is common in sandy areas...so if you are going to find a sand specialist in a sand mine, dune, beach, barren, sandhill in the Northeast there you will find this little orange bee.

Sand. The Golden Sand Loving Bee. When I think of bees that are sand loving I think of Lasioglossum vierecki. For one, how nice to have a golden orange bee to look at. For second it is common in sandy areas...so if you are going to find a sand specialist in a sand mine, dune, beach, barren, sandhill in the Northeast there you will find this little orange bee.

A little golden bee, this is an easy to identify Lasioglossum vierecki...and most Lasioglossum species are not easy to identify. Gold butt and golden hair boom you know the species. Often found in sandy areas...this one from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. Photo by Heagan Ahmed.

Lasioglossum zonulum "“ A male of this large, single weakened vein, northern species, one often confused with the very similar Lasioglossum leucozonium. Captured in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania and photographed by Brooke Alexander

Lasioglossum near puteulanum, female, A not previously known invasive bee for the Hawaiian Islands, March, 2012 Oahu