Images

Unknown Haltichellinae Wasp, Hawaii, Oahu, March 2012, Determined by Michael Gates

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

A small thin well armored bee. Just so to fit in the abandoned burrows of powder post beetles and the like. Obliquely related to Mason bees, the females carry pollen and are notable for their use of plant resins to plug their nest holes. This one from Prince George's County. Photograph by Elizabeth Garcia.

A small thin well armored bee. Just so to fit in the abandoned burrows of powder post beetles and the like. Obliquely related to Mason bees, the females carry pollen and are notable for their use of plant resins to plug their nest holes. This one from Prince George's County. Photograph by Elizabeth Garcia.

A tiny be, this one found in the flat marshy landscape of Dorchester County, Maryland. There is a pair of the species Heriades leavitti and Heriades variolosa both appear to be essentially impossible to tell apart in the female form, but in the mail form there very clear differences underneath the abdomen.

Heriades variolosa or leavitti, female, Kent County, Maryland

New state record, collected by Jelle Devalez in a sand pit in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Nearest other record is in Illinois!

DRONE! Apis mellifera male plundered from Dennis vanEngelsdorp's Lab. Washed and blown dried, buff. Photo by Sue Boo, interlab spy. 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.

Dark Bee. Some bees are all black, black hairs, black integument (skin), little reflection. This makes for somewhat eerie photography, a gothic presentation of a species that does not care what we think. Northern and mountain in distribution across both sides of the continent. This one from way up in Yosemite National Park in California.

Hoplitis anthocopoides - relatively recently introduced species into North America, this is a bee who specializes in the equally introduced plant Vipers Bugloss (Echium vulgare).

An underlooked bee, so to speak. Hylaeus sparsus, a small Hylaeus that comes with a nice spine where the leg attaches to the thorax...making ID easy ...if you look for that spine, otherwise it is another small Masked Bee. This one was collected by Jessica Rykken in Shenandoah National Park.

A rare Masked Bee. This is Hylaues sparsus. It shows up here and there, hard to say where its niche is in the world. No one catches many of them. Can't really pin a habitat on them or a focal plant that they have their favorite pollen.

a lovely lady Hylaeus from Kenya, one of the specimens from the Packer lab that did not make it into the upcoming book. It was a very dirty specimen originally, lots of dust and pollen, thank goodness for photoshop. Also experimented with using the augmentation brush to pull light into dark spots, darken off excess eyeshine, and help with pin removal.

One of the native species of Maui, here unusually found at lower elevations on the island during surveys last spring. Normally this group is restricted to upper elevations that retain at least a large component of the native flora.

Here is a series of 6 shots of Hylaeus verticalis, 3 male, 3 female. A northern and mountain bee throughout North America. One of a bunch of different Masked Bees that lurk around the continent. Photos by Sue Boo and Brooke Alexander.

From Isle Royale National Park in Michigan... Hylaeus verticalis. So many bee species to document....Photography by Sara Guerrieri. 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.

Hylaeus volatilis - A native species of Hawaiian bee found at mid elevations on East Maui. This species is particularly interesting in that it is a nest parasite of other native Hylaeus species

Fire Island National Seashore, New York

Ichneumonidae; Pimplinae, Fire Island National Seashore, New York

Greensand, dug from my backyard, which at one point was on the ocean floor...and at a point in the future will return to that state. Our local greensand is composed of rounded marine sand, glauconite (the greensstuff), and geothite (small brown/black particles).