Images

Big, Big, Big, In all its black-winged metallic glory...this species is larger than any bee north of Mexico, we trekked 2 days into the jungles of Guyana to find it. This species, and the genus as a whole, is a nest parasite on other equally large canopy dwelling Orchid Bees.

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.

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.

Dominican Republic

Cuba, GTMO, Guantanamo Bay

Cicindela scutellaris - the Festive Tiger Beetle, found on top of a butte in Badlands National Park that had ancient windblown sand at its crest, very different from the rest of the gumbo soils of the park. Here this sand specialist can build its long burrows. Experimenting with using Black Velvet as a background ...

Beltsville, Maryland, 2012, Flavopermelia caperata

Older and no so great shots (technically speaking) of Florilegus condignus. You can see tons of butterfly scales on this specimen from who knows what species were caught with it at the same time. You will find that Florilegus only collects pollen from pickerelweed (Pontedaria).

Unknown species of fly, Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming, 2012

A Syrphid fly in the genus Microdon. A lovely bee mimic and one that I had not seen before. Critters in the Genus Microdon complete their larval life cycle inside ant nests.

Unknown Fly species, from Malaise traps at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 2007, floating in hand sanitizer in a quartz cuvette....with improved clarity over the plastic cuvettes previously used

Unknown Fly species, from Malaise traps at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 2007, floating in hand sanitizer in a quartz cuvette....with improved clarity over the plastic cuvettes previously used

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.

Elephantopus carolinianus - One of the elephant's foot group. I heard that it can be a good pollinator plant, but don't, as of yet, have much in the way of experience these. Photo and specimen by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Not 100% sure about this one, but seems likely that it is Cimbex americana, the elm sawfly, but in any case, quite the boss sawfly. There is something interesting going on here. If you meet some insects at a party and ask the question: Insect, show me your fluorescent orange parts they will only show you their antennae and their tarsal segments. Why?

While the host is away the Epeolus will play. This is E. autumnalis, collected by Jessica Rykken in Massachusetts. It does not gather pollen. Rather, the female sneaketh into the nest of a Colletes while it is out gathering more food and inserts its egg into the wall of the nest.

While the host is away the Epeolus will play. This is E. autumnalis, collected by Jessica Rykken in Massachusetts. It does not gather pollen. Rather, the female sneaketh into the nest of a Colletes while it is out gathering more food and inserts its egg into the wall of the nest.

Symphyotrichum species, Beltsville, Maryland, Aster, Prince George's County

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.

Found a Common Grackle lying on the ground yesterday and took it to photograph. While taking pictures of the lovely subtle sheened feathers on the back of the head, an ant must have walked through one of the shots and its ghostly imprint remained.

Nymph, Beltsville, MD