Images

Laphria saffrana, a fly, a robberfly to be exact, but a lovely mimic of Yellowjackets. Collected at Hitchiti Experimental Forest, Georgia, in Glycol trap

Here is the Crystal Skipper, (Atrytonopsis quinteri) sent to me by Heather Cayton, from the Outer Banks of North Carolina where its entire range is but 2 barrier islands (one highly developed) where its caterpillars mildly munch on seaside little bluestem.

Here is the Crystal Skipper, (Atrytonopsis quinteri) sent to me by Heather Cayton, from the Outer Banks of North Carolina where its entire range is but 2 barrier islands (one highly developed) where its caterpillars mildly munch on seaside little bluestem.

A widespread western hemisphere group, this is one of many bright green Augochlora species (others can range in the black to purple/blue spectrums), this one is special because it occurs only on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, where it was collected by Sara Prado in agricultural fields...a local pollinator.

The most commonly captured bee in the Eastern United States is Augochlorella aurata, however, in the Deep South you start seeing some A. gratiosa, which is very, very similar, so much so that for years I thought they might be the same thing...but thankfully April Hamblin brought in a few, including a male, that turned out to be this species.

Biscayne National Park, male Florida, A Southeaster Bee of the deepest iridescence

Biscayne National Park, male Florida, A Southeaster Bee of the deepest iridescence

One the books is a species called Augochloropsis metallica...it has 2 named subspecies A. m. fulgida and A. m. metallica. Turns out that preliminary molecule checking indicates that, yes, they are separate species. Morphology backs that up too. This lovely is from WV collected by Mark Hepner.

One the books is a species called Augochloropsis metallica...it has 2 named subspecies A. m. fulgida and A. m. metallica. Turns out that preliminary molecule checking indicates that, yes, they are separate species. Morphology backs that up too. This lovely is from WV collected by Mark Hepner.

One the books is a species called Augochloropsis metallica...it has 2 named subspecies A. m. fulgida and A. m. metallica. Turns out that preliminary molecule checking indicates that, yes, they are separate species. Morphology backs that up too. This lovely is from WV collected by Mark Hepner.

Mourecotelles, Unknown Hairyeye Bee, collected in ArgentinaWhat an attractive bee, unfortunately, that is about all we can say about this species other than it is found in the western temperate regions of South America.

Alepidosceles - Sorry, too very tired to look up anything about this lovely Diadasia like bee from Brazil. You will have to do it for me, I can't do everything you know. Just make up some interesting life history notes for me, if you would, please.

Parapsaenythia, Red Hairyeye Andrenid, collected in Argentina by Natalia VeigaBees rarely have hair coming out from between the facets of their eyes. The Honey Bee is the obvious one, with its long hairs used for navigation.

Parapsaenythia, Red Hairyeye Andrenid, collected in Argentina by Natalia VeigaBees rarely have hair coming out from between the facets of their eyes. The Honey Bee is the obvious one, with its long hairs used for navigation.

Manuelia postica, Red-tipped Twignester, collected in Chile Red-tipped Twignesters live and nest, as the name implies, in the pith or hollow centers of dead plant stems. A set of nest cells are made sequentially along the length of the stem from back to front.

Dark Flower Scarab (Euphoria sepulcralis) collected in Wicomico County in a glycol trap on a farm by Brooke Alexander and photoshopped by wonderful interns Joyce and Amber

Unknown species, Fossil Butte, Wyoming National Monument

Over the next few days I hope to put up some new Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) shots from bees collected at the many hives here at the Beltsville Agriculture Research Center maintained by bee whisperer Francisco Posada. In part we are focusing on the plumage differences, showing the variation between dark and light bodied individuals.

Queen Bee photo spread. Collected by Tim McMahon from a colony in Talbot County, while slightly gummy as Honeybees are want to be, this series shows the longer abdomen, the odd curly dark hairs on top of the head and the broad hind tibia, but lacking the hairs and pollen basket that the workers have.

Black Chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa. Consider the chokeberry....native and super full of antioxidants, also super attractive to native bees. Why don't you have any in your yard? Specimen and photo by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Common Milkweed - The primary foodplant in most of the range of the loved-by-all Monarch Butterfly . Also a weed, if you are a wheat farmer, and also something much less common in agricultural landscapes where they dominated in the past. Why? Because we figured out how to create food plants that cannot be killed by herbicides.