Images

A very small fly. You can tell how small it is as you can see the out of focus tip to the insect pin to the right of the head shot. Not sure what species, but the beauty of the wing and the white integument and contrasty hair and eyes were appealing.

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Gasteruptoin species (thank you John Jennings for the det). Collected a few days ago at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, which sits in the marshlands of Dorchester County, Maryland with the habitat being combinations of marsh and loblolly pine. Collected as an incidental to collecting bees on flowers. Photography by Elizabeth Garcia.

Foot of Geothlypis trichas, Common Yellowthroat, Stuck the Thurgood Marshall Building, May of 2012 in Washington D.C. in migration

Rattlesnake Plantain. Oh, look an orchid. An orchid that is not too uncommon in acidy woodlands. What a lovely leaf too. Picture and specimen by Helen Low Metzman.

A nymph of a short-horned grasshopper, not sure what species. Another experiment with a 10X microscope lens. Specimen from my yard in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

I feel like I should know what this beetle is...but I do not. It has a tortoise beetle feel. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Anne Arundel County, MD, Identified as Gratiana pallidula, Eggplant Tortoise Beetle by Treegoat. Living specimens are a nice hospital green.

This very very rare bee invades the nests of bees in the genus Colletes. Captured by Heather Campbell in the Sandhills of North Carolina and photographed by Amber JoyceCanon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Photographer: Sam Droege, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

A nest parasite...an invader of other bees nest's ... eggs are laid and the host's young killed and food eaten. In this case the host if Colletes latitarsis. This rather beat up specimen comes from Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge....paid for with lots of donations to the mosquito population on the refuge. Photography by Ashleigh Jacobs.

Collected in South Dakota in Badlands National Park, this tiny nest parasite of Colletes is the first record for the state. Amber Reese took the pictureCanon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

A small heath, the trailing arbutus. Often thought to be rare, but more often than not simply overlooked. Attracts pollinators like the rest of the grouip. Epigaea repens. Specimen and photo by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Rattlesnake Master. What a lovely name for Eryngium yuccifolium. Not so common in the wild,but people are planting it regularly now and it usually yields a lovely show of bees on the blooms. Photo and plant by Helen Lowe Metzman.

A beautiful spring Eucera from Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Eucera are almost always buff bees. Photograph by Dejen Mengis. 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.

An uncommon spring Eucerine bee, in this case, from SE Ohio near the West Virginia border. Collected by MaLisa Spring and photographed by Brooke Alexander.

Previously seen on this Flickr site was the male of Eucera dubitata, now here is the female. The genus is a spring one and as you can see from its longggg tongue it has the equipment to harvest nectar and pollen from long corolla-ed flowers.

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.

Corynura species. Species is unknown...from Southern Chile captured while on an expedition with Laurence Packer. Photography by Anders Croft.

Cotesia congregata - a little parasite of caterpillars. This one is from Karen Kester's lab in Richmond where she and her gradstudents raise them and discover things about the host (Sphinx moths I believe) parasite relationship. Photo by Greta Forbes.

I believe that this specimen came from Kenya, but I could be wrong about that, will have to check with Laurence Packer and look up the barcode number. Note the cool oil collecting hairs present under the abdomen.

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.