Images

Rare. This bee (Colletes aestivalis) is rarely seen these days. I have never collected one despite it being recorded in Maryland in the far distant past. So it was nice to see this specimen from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia collected by Jessica Rykken in her studies of the Park's bee fauna. Good news.

Colletes brevocornis, and uncommonly collected species, one that I associate with dry open areas, it is perhaps a specialist on Venus looking glass in the campanulae family. Difficult to say, since so few have been collected but that is our best guess at this time.

Colletes brevocornis, and uncommonly collected species, one that I associate with dry open areas, it is perhaps a specialist on Venus looking glass in the campanulae family. Difficult to say, since so few have been collected but that is our best guess at this time.

Colletes brevocornis, and uncommonly collected species, one that I associate with dry open areas, it is perhaps a specialist on Venus looking glass in the campanulae family. Difficult to say, since so few have been collected but that is our best guess at this time.

Chino Farms Maryland....they are restoring their grasslands and open land on what I think is the largest farm in Maryland;and as a bonus they got a specimen of the very rare Colletes brevicornis. Hannah and Ashleigh, new interns from my lab took this picture...good job.

Super cool, Super rare, Super fun. Who would say such a thing about a little brown bee? In this case it is Colletes ciliatus. Here is a bee that was featured in a paper we wrote several years ago as one of the "missing bees" not seen for many years.

Colletes compactus is a late fall Colletes, specializing on things like goldenrod. Colletes is an interesting group....different species coming out throughout the year and many of them highly specialized in what they gather pollen from. They perhaps are all specialists, but some are quite rare and so we know little (a common story).

Colletes compactus is a late fall Colletes, specializing on things like goldenrod. Colletes is an interesting group....different species coming out throughout the year and many of them highly specialized in what they gather pollen from. They perhaps are all specialists, but some are quite rare and so we know little (a common story).

Colletes inaequalis, female, Prince George's County, Maryland

Unknown species of Dasymutilla, Beltsville, Maryland 2012, July

Dasymutilla, Maryland, Beltsville, July 2012

Dasypoda plumipes, Hairy-footed Hairy-legged Bee, collected in the United Kingdom.The common name of this species is an accurate description of the bushy pollen carrying hind legs of the female (male bees do not transport pollen back to a nest).

Datura stramonium - Last year's pod of a Jimsonweed from the back edge of my property. Lovely mix of spines and the hardship and decline of a hard winter. Not a native species, but still lovely.

A series of 6 pictures of 3 species of very uncommon beetles that are new records for the region from George Washington Memorial Parkway unit of the National Park Service. Collected by Brent Steury.

A series of 6 pictures of 3 species of very uncommon beetles that are new records for the region from George Washington Memorial Parkway unit of the National Park Service. Collected by Brent Steury. Have to figure out what species this is Derodontus maculatus .

Fuzzy, round-headed, and big are a pretty good short cut to the ID of Diadasia bees. Westerners, they, in a very casual pocket prairie sort of way make East of the Mississippi River. The bulk of the population is in dry natural areas from the middle prairies to the West. Here is a common one from our work in the Badlands of South Dakota.

A common genus out West, this genus does not really make it to the wet and lush East. This specimen we collected in the Badlands of South Dakota in the park of the same name. Clair Mudd took the shot.

A common genus out West, this genus does not really make it to the wet and lush East. This specimen we collected in the Badlands of South Dakota in the park of the same name. Clair Mudd took the shot.

Small Fuzzy Diadaasia diminuta. This little fur ball, is a globe mallow specialist. I am too tired after trying to beat back invasives all day in the yard to say any more. A lovely day though all the bees finally are emerging, including my first queen bumbles. The little poofs are from Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

The last in a series of pictures of Diadasia diminuta. A small, Perhaps the smallest Diadasia. Smaller than a honeybee, but super fluffy. Found in the Badlands of South Dakota. Photo by Kelly Graninger.

Small Fuzzy Diadaasia diminuta. This little fur ball, is a globe mallow specialist. I am too tired after trying to beat back invasives all day in the yard to say any more. A lovely day though all the bees finally are emerging, including my first queen bumbles. The little poofs are from Badlands National Park in South Dakota.