Images

Impatiens capensis, Common or spotted Jewelweed. A lover of wet spots, its vegetation is viscous, wet, and used as a wash when you may have been contacted by Poison Ivy. The flowers are total bumble bee bait ...just the right size and the spur at the back end is full of nectar. The orange color is also highly attractive to hummingbirds as a bonus.

As happens rarely in bees, this bee exhibits both characters of males and females, with bilateral asymmetry. Found by MaLisa Spring in Marietta, Ohio as part of her studies of the bees or the region, which in addition to this species discovered several new state records and rare bees.

Here is an approximately 100 year old specimen from the Smithsonian that we recently obtained from old loans. A relatively obscure group from South America...this one come from South America. The only host record I can find is from Colletes. Picture by Samia Shell.

Another unknown jumping spider from Upper Marlboro, this one is only a few mm long, lots of wonderful things live complictated lives at the scale of a few mmCanon 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

Catterpillar of Endangered Karner Blue butterfly Lycaeides melissa samuelis, almost ready to pupate ...a.k.a. a fatty

The Endangered Karner Blue, Lycaeides melissa samuelis

Dominican Republic. A lovely metallic green Lasioglossum in the Dialictus group

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan

Lasioglossum marinum, Female, Florida, National Park Service, Fort Matanzas National Monument

Cuba, GTMO Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

From Organ Pipe National Monument comes the small and very common western Lasioglossum microlepoides. Just like the seemingly endless supply of these small Halictid bees, it is slightly metallic and and has a strongly bent basal vein. One could spent a couple lives just figuring out the different species. Photography by Brooke Alexander.

Lasioglossum nevadense from San Juan Islands National Monument in the farrrr northwest corner of the United States mainland.

Cuba, GTMO, Guantanamo Bay

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 small San Juan Island National Historic park comes this bee: Lasioglossum pacificum. Historically, this species has nothing to do with this park being historical, but there just possibly might be an important backstory where this species played an important role in keeping the United States as the nation we know it rather than all of us being Canadian.

From the small San Juan Island National Historic park comes this bee: Lasioglossum pacificum. Historically, this species has nothing to do with this park being historical, but there just possibly might be an important backstory where this species played an important role in keeping the United States as the nation we know it rather than all of us being Canadian.

From the small San Juan Island National Historic park comes this bee: Lasioglossum pacificum. Historically, this species has nothing to do with this park being historical, but there just possibly might be an important backstory where this species played an important role in keeping the United States as the nation we know it rather than all of us being Canadian.

This Lasioglossum comes from Yellowstone National Park. If we actually had a good shot of its head you would see that it has an interesting and large one, but we don't, so you just have to be satisfied with the top of the abdomen, which is nice enough for a bee. Photograph by Brooke Alexander. Photoshopping by Wayne Boo.

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.

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.