Images

A cactus specialist, if you look closely you can see the spiny little cactus pollen balls all over this male, if you look even more closely at the shot of the face you will see a a lawn croquet hoop formation formed by the mandibles in the center of the face...used to grasp the female at her waist during mating.

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One of two species of native peyote cacti. Native to the Southwest and under threat in the wild from over collection. Photography by Helen Lowe Metzman.

The Giant Stag beetle ....Lucanus elephus....a huge beetle of eastern forests. This specimen can from California, Maryland and was collected by members of Bartlett Tree Company.

The Giant Stag beetle ....Lucanus elephus....a huge beetle of eastern forests. This specimen can from California, Maryland and was collected by members of Bartlett Tree Company.

Virginia, Page County

Bryce Canyon in Utah is not just magnificent canyons and spectacular scenery, it also has lots of very small bees such as this one, Lasioglossum pacatum.

From the Badlands of South Dakota...Lasioglossum paraforbesii. One of the large northern Lasioglossum species. This one found lurking about some of the prairie habitats in the National Park on our expedition there. Upon close inspection you can see that this bee has one rather than two weakened cross veins in the submarginal cells...but you knew that.

A Lasioglossum with its weakened wing veins exhibiting a lovely hybrid cerulean, sky, molten blue with metallic notes offset with bright white hairs. From Redwoods National Park in California as part of a study of bees in vulnerable areas in Parks. Photograph by Brooke Alexander.

In the Badlands of South Dakota comes a red-butted Lasioglossum. Most have dark posteriors, but not this one, which means that identification is simplified. But, one must still untangle this species from the handful of other species with red on the abdomen. Its still a mystery to me how all these Lasioglossums carve up the floral space.

Fossil Butte National Monument continues to fascinate with all the many bees that are to be found there. This is Lasioglossum pulveris. One of the many dark Lasioglossum species. Photograph by Brooke Alexander.

Fossil Butte National Monument continues to fascinate with all the many bees that are to be found there. This is Lasioglossum pulveris. One of the many dark Lasioglossum species. Photograph by Brooke Alexander.

Bryce Canyon, little tiny sweat bees, lots of different species. Not what people come to see, but what you now can see here because the National Park Service cares. Photography by Brooke Alexander.

A Megachile from Morocco that is in the Chalicodoma subgenus, group, or sometimes full blown genus depending upon your taxonomic proclivities. Characteristically the females do not cut leaves to line the nests but use resin or mud and thus do not have the scissors-like cutting edges on their mandibles. This nicely arrayed species is from Iran.

Megachile concinna, Female, mandibles, Dominican Republic, 2012 March

Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

Megachile farinosa: a rather rare species and with conspicuous red legs, a feature which is very uncommon in European Megachile. This species flies in high summer and the female gathers pollen only on the flowers of Vitex agnus-castus.Some alternative or past names for the species include Chalicodoma farinosa or Pseudomegachile farinosa.

The Channel Islands off of the coast of California have their own endemic set of animals and plants. I would expect that there might be some insects of the bee kind that might be endemic to, though I'm not familiar enough with their literature to know that is the case. Here, is Melissodes lustra from those islands. Photography from Sue Boo.

A first state record for South Carolina. This is the uncommon Melissodes manipularis. Its a male as you can tell by the very long antennae. This bee was collected as part of a survey of coastal Spring Island by Merle Shepherd and compatriots.

Here is a Melissodes from Pulaski County, Virginia collected at the Radford Munitions Plant which is kept in high quality grasslands because they are good stewards.