Images

Blue Cohosh. A close up of one of the flowers of Caulophyllum thalictroides. A lovely spring perennial of rich deciduous woodlands. Picture and specimen taken by Helen Lowe Metzman. Howard County, Maryland.

Notice, in particular the lobed tip of the tongue in this shot. A Western Hemisphere group, with a good number of species. These are very fast fliers and, at least the North American species tend to be crepuscular and plant specialists, often associated with sandy/dune areas.

Centris...the tropical western hemisphere's answer to the Bumblebee. Bumblebees are absent from the Caribbean but bees of the genus Centris are of the same size and shape and fill the same floral niche muscling their way into large tropical flowers.

Bahamas, San Salvador Island, Collected by Dan Kjar

Cuba, GTMO, Guantanamo Bay

A lovely Centris from Puerto Rico, collected by Sara Prado

A lovely Centris from Puerto Rico, collected by Sara Prado

Cuba, Guantanamo Bay

Centris fasciata, female, GTMO, Cuba, June 2011

Centris fasciata, female, GTMO, Cuba, June 2011

More Hylaeus from Panama, this little species was collected by Sandra Rehan, lovely wing pop or wing interference patterns. So glossy you can see the camera lens in the reflections.

Cuba, GTMO, Guantanamo Bay

Found by Brooke Alexander after it invaded our Lab in Beltsville, Maryland and photographed by Brooke Alexander

A beautiful pale white and green horse fly from North Carolina, Chlorotabanus crepuscular, a drinker of blood that comes out only at dawn and dusk, this is a southern species I had not seen before. This specimen was collected in Duck, North Carolina by Lisa Kuder. Picture taken by Ashleigh Jacobs.

A beautiful pale white and green horse fly from North Carolina, Chlorotabanus crepuscular, a drinker of blood that comes out only at dawn and dusk, this is a southern species I had not seen before. This specimen was collected in Duck, North Carolina by Lisa Kuder. Picture taken by Ashleigh Jacobs.

Choristoneura parallelaon fishhook, Upper Marlboro, July 2012

OK, we are going small, so small that the naked eye (or my naked eye) can't see these bad boys. The 20X Mitutoyo microscope objective opens up a new world. Here the mites on Bob Trumbule's mite infested Christmas Cactus come out beautifully. Too bad I have no idea what group/species they are. Note the stomata's in the picture of the nymph/larvae.

Always good for a lingering look is the glitzy Chrysidid Wasp group. I am not sure what species this is but it was found during Adirondack ATBI bioblitz this past week and was used to demonstrate the camera set up for the crowd. A nest parasite, usually of hymenoptera, one has to wonder ... why so metallic Mr. Wasp? Stack taken by Dejen Mengis.

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

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

Chrysochus auratus, Indian Hemp Beetle, Beltsville, Maryland