Images

Dianthidium simile, female, Michigan, July 2011, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Dieunomia heteropoda, Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Dieunomia heteropoda, female, Anne Arundel County Maryland, The only known colony in the state

Coreopsis verticullata - Whorled Tickseed. Always popular with bees, the Coreopsis group, as a whole, is widely planted, tough, and long bloomer, but reasonably rare out there in the wild, with some of the planted species not local to the mid-Atlantic. Should they be planted then. Where are the limits?

Helicoverpa zea - Corn Earworm - According to Wikipedia its the second most economically damaging insect pest in North America, chewing on a wide variety of crop plants. This most certainly is true, but it also not a bad looking animal when viewed close up.

Helicoverpa zea - Corn Earworm - According to Wikipedia its the second most economically damaging insect pest in North America, chewing on a wide variety of crop plants. This most certainly is true, but it also not a bad looking animal when viewed close up.

This is the male of a species that parasitizes Megachile (leaf cutter nests) by laying their eggs in the nest of the host, after which the young Coelioxys sodalis emerges and kills the host larvae and consumes the pollen and nectar of the host's young. About 20% of all bees work on this model.

Coelioxys vigilans, Dominican Republic

Coelioxys coturnix, female, Maryland, July 2012, Cumberland

Coelioxys coturnix, female, Maryland, July 2012, Cumberland

Acadia National Park, Maine

Gynandromorph, bilaterally half male/ half female, very rare, the left hand side of this he-she is male (13 antennal segments / lacking pollen carrying hairs on the legs) and the right it female with 12 antennal segments and pollen carrying scopa on the hind legs. The differences are most obvious on the face shot and the underside shot.

Habropoda excellens, Three spotted Digger Bee, specimen collected by K. Moredock in Utah, USADigger Bees in the genus Habropoda occur around the world across middle northern latitudes and are usually plant specialists, collecting pollen from only a small number of all the plant species that might be available.

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Once of our dirtball species. Common, found almost everywhere including people's gardens and in our agricultural fields. This is group (Halictus) if often identifiable in the males by the the dark spot/section on the outer face of the hind tibia.

Once of our dirtball species. Common, found almost everywhere including people's gardens and in our agricultural fields. This is group (Halictus) if often identifiable in the males by the the dark spot/section on the outer face of the hind tibia.

Bees of Bryce Canyon...yep, plenty of different kinds of bees in this National Park including this darling but drab Halictus farinosus. Photography by Brooke Alexander. Photography Information: 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.

Gynandromorph. Park male. Part Female. Intersex. We run into these periodically. Maybe something like once every 25,000 specimens or so. This one is Halictus ligatus and was collected by Sara Bushman from Maine as part of her studies of coastal bees. This specimen is a hodge-podge of male and femaleness.

Halictus ligatus. One of the crow bees of the North America. It occurs almost everywhere and remains common in urban and disturbed sites, where it is just fine with gathering pollen from alien weeds and flower beds.

A relatively new invader to North America. Unlike most of the other invasive bees, this is a ground nester, most of the others nest in holes and likely come over as nest stowaways in shipping containers and dunnage.