Images

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.

West Virginia, Hardy County

West Virginia, Hardy County

Hoplitis truncata. An uncommon Hoplitis that shows up here and there, but never in large numbers. Not well known and its roll and preferences in the world of flowers is also unclear. This is a rather ratty male I collected somewhere near home...will have to keep my eyes open for additional specimens.

Hoplitis fulgida, male, Grand Tetons National Park, August 2010

Bluets, or Quaker Ladies. Their delicate loveliness does not quite shouw up in these pictures...forming little clumps in poor soils and a part of spring I wait for each year. Specimen and photos from Helen Low Metzman.

Goldenseal. Hydrastis canadensis. Another early spring bloomer. A long history as a native medicinal plant on the continent. Helen Low Metzman collected the specimen and took the picture.

The genus Hylaeus is referred to as the Masked Bee group. Most species have yellow vaguely mask-like yellow/white markings on their face. Not this one. It is distinctive in the absence of yellow. Looks like a wasp, does it not? This is because is carries its pollen and nectar loads internally and so the normal hairiness of most bees can be dispensed with.

The genus Hylaeus is referred to as the Masked Bee group. Most species have yellow vaguely mask-like yellow/white markings on their face. Not this one. It is distinctive in the absence of yellow. Looks like a wasp, does it not? This is because is carries its pollen and nectar loads internally and so the normal hairiness of most bees can be dispensed with.

In rough translation this would be the "Florida Masked Bee." Tiny, grain of rice things, and usually mistaken for wasps as they carry their pollen internally rather than in their body hairs like other bees. Thus they have reverted to the wasp shape from whence bees came.

New State Record for Maryland, April 2012 Collected on Willow blooms in Dorchester County....a very rarely collected bee east of the Mississippi. I don't know any recent records

Masked Bee from Dorchester County. An alien masked bee, Hylaeus leptocephalus to be exact. In Maryland (in this case, Cambridge, Maryland) it is almost completely restricted to the urban weedy lot and industrial tract. Railroad lines...the best. Photography by Amanda Robinson.

Larrini, Unknown species, Dorchester County, April 2012, MarylandLiris argentatus?

Bryce Canyon National Park....another of the multitudes of Lasioglossum species present in North America

Bryce Canyon National Park....another of the multitudes of Lasioglossum species present in North America. Photograph by Brooke Alexander. 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.

The glorious species richness and subtle complexity of a group of sweat bees. Lasioglossum abundipunctum (pictured here and collected in Fossil Butte, Wyoming) is one of what seems like an endless number of similar seeming bees. I have little doubt that on a per bee basis this group of bees dominates all other native bees, but to we ever really hear about them?

The glorious species richness and subtle complexity of a group of sweat bees. Lasioglossum abundipunctum (pictured here and collected in Fossil Butte, Wyoming) is one of what seems like an endless number of similar seeming bees. I have little doubt that on a per bee basis this group of bees dominates all other native bees, but to we ever really hear about them?

The glorious species richness and subtle complexity of a group of sweat bees. Lasioglossum abundipunctum (pictured here and collected in Fossil Butte, Wyoming) is one of what seems like an endless number of similar seeming bees. I have little doubt that on a per bee basis this group of bees dominates all other native bees, but to we ever really hear about them?

Cape Cod National Seashore....Lasioglossum accuminatum, one of the large black Lasioglossum speciesCanon 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 our set up is located in our profile