Images

Unknown microhymenoptera, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

The Madagascan sunset moth, yes indeed a Moth not a butterfly. Endemic to the Island of Madagascar. Large, migratory, and day flying it is another example of Nature's breaking of the rules. The colors are not created by pigments but by the structure of the scales themselves (look it up...very cool).

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.

Japanase Burrowing Cricket, Velarifictorus micado, Beltsville, Maryland, July 2012, A reporter from Wired Magazine commented that this specimen was remarkably similar to Rodin's "The Thinker"

Velvet Ant or Cow Killer, Mutillidae unknown species from Badlands National Park. So charistmatic. 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.

Anticarsia gemmatalis - Velvetbean Caterpillar - Soybean eater....this species can't overwinter in most of North America but moves north to populate bean and legume fields in large enough numbers to become a major pest, but like our other pesty moths...pretty sharp looking when you get to know them personally. Specimen provided by Benzon Research.

The Good Carpenter Bee. This is the other species of carpenter bee that occurs in the Eastern U.S. Xylocopa micans. For some reason it thumbs its labrum at dry wood in buildings, decks, and fences (unlike its cousin X. virginica).

The Good Carpenter Bee. This is the other species of carpenter bee that occurs in the Eastern U.S. Xylocopa micans. For some reason it thumbs its labrum at dry wood in buildings, decks, and fences (unlike its cousin X. virginica).

Xylocopa mordax, Female, face, Dominican Republic, Carpenter Bee

Ahhhhhh, the beauty of the wings of Carpenter Bees, this lovely specimen from Thailand, found lounging around the Packer Lab, Trivia = Carpenter Bees lay the world's largest insect eggs.

Here is a carpenter bee species from Australia that has a very different look and feel from our North American species. Very likely in a different subfamily but taxonomically and morphologically there must be great similarities to keep them within the same genus.

Giant Flying Eye - The male of Xylocopa virginica or Virginia Carpenter Bee. Any bee with this much "eye" is clearly doing something different visually. In this case the males are guarding nesting territories and the associated females and their young and defending them from other males.

Xylocopa sonorina, Hawaii, OahuMarch 2012

Vespid wasp from Kruger National Park in South Africa. This is one that we see periodically taking nips of nectar from some of the trees we study. No time to look up the species group, but likely it a social species of some kind. Large too, about the size of a bumblebee in length..,Photo by Erick Hernandez.

Zanysson - A crabronid wasp. Most of the stinging wasps are fairly badass in aspect, to use a technical term. This one certainly is worthy of a tattoo on someone's chest and was collected by Merle Shepherd from Spring Island along the coast of South Carolina. It is unclear which species this is, but perhaps someone will reveal that to us.

Zizia - Every garden deserves a set of plant folks from the carrot family. This is Golden Alexanders, it even comes with a bee that only uses its pollen to feed its young, Andrena ziziae. Flat-topped and little flowers, this creates the perfect feeding platform for little wasps and bees. Check out the rest of the family and include them in your gardens too.

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Galleria mellonella - The waxworm. The rather muscular and chiseled form of an introduced pest of bees nests. In this case this bad boy was found in a bumble bee nest that was built in a chickadee nest that the bumble bee queen had kicked out of the nestbox in suburban Maryland. So it goes in nature. Picture by Wayne Boo. Waxworm wrangling by Desiree Narango.

Xanthorhiza simplicissima, Yellowroot. A long tradition in eastern North American of using this shrubby Ranunculus family plant for dyeing and medicine. Plant and specimen from Helen Lowe Metzman.

Prickly Ash - Xanthoxylum americanum. Photo by Helen Lowe Metzman.

A common Carpenter Bee in Kruger National Park where they hang out in blooming trees (particularly legumes) once the trees start blooming with the austral spring rains. Looks a bit like the road stripers got a hold of her. Xylcopa caffra. Identified by Jonathan Mawdsley. Photo by Kelly Graninger.