Images

Another cool Nomada from Southern Minnesota. This one, Nomada vincta, is regular, but the color variant here is a bit different from specimens further to the West. This specimen was collected by Scott Leddy in his study of Prairie remnants in Southern Minnesota. Another new state record. Photography by Amanda Robinson.

Nomada

From Kenya comes yet another Nomia with modifications to the basic bee format. You can see that like other Nomia this male has expanded leg segments, but the fabulous thing here are the dangling modified heart-shaped last segment of the antenna. Male bee antennae are modified quite frequently in the bee world, but this is one of the more extravagant.

A good Nomia pictures always makes them look like space aliens and they might as well be given how far far far different insects are from our particularly model of living on this earth. This space alien is from the deserts of Oman where there are most new species to find, deserts being high on the list of locations with high bee diversity.

A male Nomia from Thailand, note the corkscrewed antennae and the greatly expanded leg segments (presumably useful in mating at nest aggregations).

Check out the rear pointing spines at the end of the thorax on this male Nomia from Vietnam, there has to be something interesting going on there. As with other Nomia this male has expanded hind leg segments, some nice pearl banding no the abdomen, and a little color pop from the thin trailing edges of the wings from wing interference patterns.

Check out the rear pointing spines at the end of the thorax on this male Nomia from Vietnam, there has to be something interesting going on there. As with other Nomia this male has expanded hind leg segments, some nice pearl banding no the abdomen, and a little color pop from the thin trailing edges of the wings from wing interference patterns.

Badlands national Park, South Dakota

Badlands national Park, South Dakota

South Dakota, Badlands National Park

Size of bee makes a difference, even in terms of what bees get studied. Large bees attract even the non-biologists attention and thus Carpenter Bees and Bumblebees are well known around the world. Small bees, that don't bother or sting us can remain unstudied despite their abundance.

Unknown parasitic wasp, Cecil County Maryland. This specimen is so small that I am losing some definition due to the amount of cropping that I had to perform.

Eggs, Harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica, a common pest of brassicas, these were raised by the Weber USDA lab at Beltsville, Maryland

Mushroom species, unknown, approximately 15 mm across the top on a rotting log,September 21, 2012, Beltsville, MD

Great Basin National Park. Still processing photos from our big survey of bees of U.S. parks. In this case, there was a lovely mutillid wasp, (velvet ant) in the sample. Oddly the female's hair color shifted between the shots....Not clear why.

Wicked Wasp Week. All week, All wasps. Witchy. Muttilids. Ah, here is one, such a group you would not want to meet if they were 10 feet tall. Check out the tarsal comb on this one from Great Basin National Park in Utah....perhaps used to pick the pieces of its victims out of its teeth.

Here is a short 3 picture series of 3 Mylabris blister beetles from Kruger National Park, where they are often found on tree flowers. I had the unfortunate experience of storing a bunch of these in my pocket while in the bush. Later that night my upper thigh was covered in large blisters. Be warned.

The eastern subspecies of the Yellow-rumped warbler, Setophaga coronata. This bird ran into a building at night while it was migrating and was picked up by the Lights out DC group.

Ah, here is a good story, this is a shot of a female Nomada found at the museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. I have visited their museum many times, but only this last time did I find a synoptic collection of bees from New England that was separate from the rest of their large, lovely, and old collection of bees.

Ah, here is a good story, this is a shot of a female Nomada found at the museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. I have visited their museum many times, but only this last time did I find a synoptic collection of bees from New England that was separate from the rest of their large, lovely, and old collection of bees.

Queen Anne County, Maryland, A lovely Tiphiid Wasp from Chino Farm