Images

Feeds Baby Oil. Yes, a subcult of the many bees of the world are those who, in addition to feeding their young pollen, feed them oil from plants that produce oil for that very purpose. Here is such a bee, a Paratetrapedia collected by Tim McMahon in Costa Rica. It has special hairs to transport the oil to the nest.

The Carpenter bee flower. This is one of the passion flowers, Passiflora incarnata, designed to be pollinated by Carpenter bees which fit right in and are daubed by pollen (note the stigmas are those large white things ABOVE the stamens). Since each vine is self incompatible they have to get it right. Flower and photograph by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Laura Russo collected these lovely squash bees (Peponapis pruinosa) near State College, Pennsylvania. Aptly named, this bee only feeds its young on the pollen of Cucurbita (pumpkins, squash, gourds and the like). This genus is native to the hemisphere....peaking in numbers in the Mexican highlands, but do not occur naturally in Pennsylvania (too cold).

Pompilid Spider Wasp, Central Highlands High Elevation Domincan RepublicPepsis ruficornis

Petrified Forest National Monument, AZ

Meet an illegal immigrant. This is Pseudoanthidium nanum a bee we first realized was present about 10 years ago. It now is established in the NJ and MD areas, and I believe I saw records from the Chicago area last year. I have only found it in the most urban of urban areas on the riot of corrupting weeds that we always bring with us where ever we live.

Pseudopanurgus labrosiformis, female

A mysterious group, Pseudopanurgus, not very common, probably are to some extent plant specialists, but little studied, almost for sure there are several new species throughout North America and even in the eastern portions, but yet, but yet"¦where is the young ready to embrace a new Adventure and sort all this lovely diversity?

Badlands National Park, South Dakota, 2011

I have nicknamed this bee (Ptilothrix bombiformis) the refuge bee because it is found so often on National Wildlife Refuges. Why? Well this species is a hibiscus specialist and refuges are full of impoundments and those impoundments often have fresh water hibiscus plants in them.

One of the most common bees in the East...if only we could figure out how to identify it more easily. Here we have Lasioglossum trigeminum. Fits right in with A. admirandum, A. versatum, and A. callidum and I often struggle with dark second thoughts about the specimens Id, because of all the overlap.

On a recent trip to York University to take pictures of bees from around the world, I was returning to his lab after a coffee field trip and was struck by the beautiful lines of some fresh red oak acorns.

Rediviva species, Black Daddy Longlegs Oil Bee, collected in South Africa We showed the male already...here is the female.What fantastically cool bees! These bees have extremely long front legs that they use to collect oil from plants, using the oil instead of nectar as food for the larvae. At the end of their legs are sponge-like patches of hairs.

Polistes dominulus from the Dominican Republic

Here we present a series of pictures of Polistes wasp nests with lavae, pupae, eggs, and interlopers.

Damselflies, two nymphs, Beltsville, Maryland floating in Hand Sanitizer

Japanese Beetle, Maryland, Beltsville, Popillia japonica, July 2012

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A bee that has not been seen in Maryland for over 100 years. Protandrena abdominalis. And...still has not been seen in Maryland for 100 years. This specimen actually came from Texas where I was visiting my kin (but not so secretly also collecting bees).

This little red bee was collected on spotted beebalm. It seems to be the only species of plant, with the possibility of some close relatives being involved, that this bee finds worthy of collecting pollen from. If you Google images of spotted beebalm you'll see that it is quite the complicated and rather ornate flowering plant.