Images

Cactus seed supplied by the Desert Botanical GardenCanon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

The first set in a long series of pictures to come out of a visit to Laurence Packer's lab, where we are picking out all sorts of lovely world wide bees to photograph. This dandy (yes it is tomato colored) is common in the temperate areas of Chile and Argentina, this bad girl is from Chile.

Destroyer of Ash, this is Agrilus planipennis an invasive Buprestid that has invaded North America where it feeds on Ash. trees. At this point all ash trees in North America are threatened and could ecologically eliminate them from North American forests. On the other hand it is a beautiful Buprestid beetle that simply was brought to the wrong place.

Destroyer of Ash, this is Agrilus planipennis an invasive Buprestid that has invaded North America where it feeds on Ash. trees. At this point all ash trees in North America are threatened and could ecologically eliminate them from North American forests. On the other hand it is a beautiful Buprestid beetle that simply was brought to the wrong place.

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 nest parasite of Colletes bees, this sharp looking, heavily armored Epeolus bifasciatus was found in Badlands National Park in South Dakota

A nicely arrayed longhorned bee from southern Georgia. It is rare that we get to see a bee so nicely laid out. Of the tens of thousands of these that we process each year most are hair-matted, covered in pollen or dirt, have crumpled wings, and are nowhere near this symmetrical. What a delight.Collected by Sabrie Breland in cool whispering Pines of the lowlands.

Very orange and fluffy he is. And very uncommonly found. This was a nice bee to see from Sabrie Breland's captures in old long-leaf pine forests in Southern Georgia. Fulvohirta indeed. Pictures taken by Sara Guerrieri.

Eucera rosae a rather uncommon spring bee in same group as the more abundant Melissodes species. This one came from the Saint Mary's City area of Southern Maryland collected by Elaine Szymkowiak.

Eugloss dilemma, male, Florida, Biscayne National Park

Euryglossidia species, Pinnochio Euryglossidia, collected in Australia by Laurence PackerThis undescribed species was collected in Western Australia after particularly good winter rains. It has an unusually pointed "nose". No reason for this unusual modification is known.

A large, parasitic orchid bee (Exaerte smaragdina). This bumble bee sized shimmering saucepan of blue and melted green was collected by Tim McMahon a few days ago in the Bagaces region of Costa Rica, where he used chemical lures similar to the orchid oils that these bees gather from .... orchids in the canopy.

Unknown species of fly found in Upper Marlboro, Maryland

More play with 10X. Here is a small non-muscid fly from my backyard. Tongue architecture is very interesting and lovely in a fly sort of way.

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Lace bug, how exquisite, the patterns and colors of the cells of this tiny bug. The one found on Horsenettle by Ashley Bradford on the Pickering Creek Audubon Sanctuary BioBlitz.

More experiments with USGS minerals. This one is a shot of very tiny 1mm or so garnets crazy glued to an insect pin. Not bad for a first try, but clearly more cleaning is needed to really make these shine. 10x shot with microscope objective on camera.

Nectar dries quickly in the Atacama Desert of Chile, the driest desert in the world, and so many plants hide their nectar in deep nectaries. Bees visiting these flowers need long tongues and, in some instances, a very long head to reach the nectar.

Quiscalus quiscula - The Common Grackle. A hefty gracklesk foot befitting the beast. 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.

Usure of which Green Lacewing species this is, it is also a bit discolored (the yellow areas should be green) in death, the eye alone adds appeal to this delicate species.Captured at my moth light in Upper Marlboro, MDCanon 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 Sp

A very cool find. This is a lovely male Dieunomia nevadensis. It was found in Maryland at one of the Chaney Sand Mines. They kindly scraped a section of the site and sure enough it was colonized by all sorts of cool sand bees. No sand...no sand bees. That sort of thing. This one is particularly noteworthy because the nearest record was from North Carolina.