Images

Masked Bee from Dorchester County. An alien masked bee, Hylaeus leptocephalus to be exact. In Maryland (in this case, Cambridge, Maryland) it is almost completely restricted to the urban weedy lot and industrial tract. Railroad lines...the best. Photography by Amanda Robinson.

A wetlands bee, usually with red on the basal segments of the abdomen but not always. The males with extensive yellow on their faces. Here from the marshes of Kent County, Maryland

Colors. You know, bees are so interesting sometimes. Here is Hylaeus pictipes. Jason Gibbs found this species up in Ontario, Canada where it did not belong since it is a bee of the Old World.

Colors. You know, bees are so interesting sometimes. Here is Hylaeus pictipes. Jason Gibbs found this species up in Ontario, Canada where it did not belong since it is a bee of the Old World.

Colors. You know, bees are so interesting sometimes. Here is Hylaeus pictipes. Jason Gibbs found this species up in Ontario, Canada where it did not belong since it is a bee of the Old World.

From Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Eastern Shore of Maryland...a Hylaeus associated with coastal marshes. Hylaeus schwarzii. Near the marshes, but not usually found in them. Mysterious. Photography by Ashleigh Jacobs.

Hoplitis fulgida, a female from Grand Tetons National Park, collected as part of a study of climate change. Most species in this genus are the normal black colored bee things, but a few, like this one are, as the Latin in name implies, glittering jewels. Sierra Williams took this stacked shot. Elizabeth Garcia Shopped it.

Hoplitis fulgida (fulgid is Latin for bling). This is one of our early shots, taken of a bee from Grand Teton National Park. It is a terrible specimen in many ways, not symmetrically arrayed, a bit crumpled, probably why I had ignored it.

Hoplitis pilosifrons. Oft overlooked. This species is relatively common occurring in almost any substantive collection of bees from a region or location anywhere East of the Rockies. It has the bad habit of being bland in its characters and often leads to misidentifications.

Prince George's County, Maryland

A large Hoplitis, that occurs throughout most of North America East of the Rockies. Occurs in low numbers at most locations, in the Mid-Atlantic is is a June bee and associated with what would appear to be mostly Woody blooming plants. Something to consider in your planting pollinator plans... don't forget the blooming shrubs and small trees.

Hoplitis truncata. An uncommon Hoplitis that shows up here and there, but never in large numbers. Not well known and its roll and preferences in the world of flowers is also unclear. This is a rather ratty male I collected somewhere near home...will have to keep my eyes open for additional specimens.

Need an ID Beetle Heads...This is a lovely tortoise beetle that Ashley Bradford showed me at Pickering Creek Audubon Sanctuary BioBlitz where all the it nature heads gathered to talk about how the natural world was going to hell, except for places like Pickering Creek.

Scutigera coleoptrata, the house centipede, collected by one of the interns in her house. Photograph by Sue Boo.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, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

Scutigera coleoptrata, the house centipede, collected by one of the interns in her house.

House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, dead after likely striking the DC Convention Center building

Bluets, or Quaker Ladies. Their delicate loveliness does not quite shouw up in these pictures...forming little clumps in poor soils and a part of spring I wait for each year. Specimen and photos from Helen Low Metzman.

Unknown Haltichellinae, Hawaii, Oahu, March 2012, Determined by Michael Gates

Another Chrysidid wasp (cuckoo wasp) from the Hart-Miller Dredge Spoil site in Baltimore Harbor, collected by Eugene Scarpulla, photographed by Brooke Alexander Identification by Lynn KimseyCanon 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, link to a .pdf of o

A small hole nesting bee related to Osmia, beatifully arrayed in dark black pitting and short, prone, white bands of hair. Found at Wolf Trap National Park for the Perfoming Arts in Virginia

A small hole nesting bee related to Osmia, beatifully arrayed in dark black pitting and short, prone, white bands of hair. Found at Wolf Trap National Park for the Perfoming Arts in Virginia