Images

A populous genus with many South American species, check out the ultra wide head of this male from Argentina. From the Packer Lab collection.

The head of a very small robber fly, how wonderful to see up close the insect solution to vision, Beltsville, Maryland

Experimental shot (see previous picture in series) , but this time taken from the front...notice the great drop off in the reflection.

A small very black bee with an extremely wide head.Note the lobe projecting from the "cheek" back towards the thorax. This is one member of a fairly large genus of bees that are restricted to tropical South America south. From...the Packer Lab.

Blackberries...(Rubus species).

Sand Wasp, female, Sand Wasp from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Another shot of Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis by Helen Lowe Metzman in Howard County, Maryland. Note the lovely unfurling leaf.

Glischrochilus sanguinolentus - Another 10X shot, this of the head of a small little sap beetle that I found feeding on the cut end of a Boxelder in my backyard, apparently this beetle is fond of maples, their sap, and the associated fungi/bacteria growing on the sap.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - Died in a collision with a building in Washington D.C. recovered by Lights out DC volunteer group.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, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

Sassafrass....the trees are dioecious ... males and females on separate trees. While they do have plenty of flowers they are rarely visited by bees. Perhaps it is more of fly pollination system. Specimens and pictures by Helen Lowe Metzman from Howard County, Maryland.

Aegolius acadicus, the Norther Saw-whet owl. Look at the different feathers that occur around the eye and around the facial disk to increase their ability to hear, but not loose heat. This one unfortunately ran into a building in downtown DC at night while migrating.

Unknown Scarab, found in bowl trap in the high plateau of West Virginia by Jane Whitaker, specimen approximately 8mm and floating in hand sanitzer. You can see a couple of mites on the left side. This specimen has been designated as the Gilbert Godfrey Beetle by the NWF Staff.

Unknown Scarab, found in bowl trap in the high plateau of West Virginia by Jane Whitaker, specimen approximately 8mm and floating in hand sanitzer...notice the 4 mites!

Schizocosa avida, in hand sanitizer in a cuvette, unknown species, September, Maryland, identified by Lady Arachnophile

Another small mint ...here we have Scutellaria elliptica. Look close. What is going on here? Why all this architecture? lips, hoods, long corollas...why purple with white patches and spots...could it have to do with bees? so many questions. Specimen and photograph by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Paracolletes species, On and Off Bee, specimen collected in AustraliaThis species is unusually sexually dimorphic in color. The males are quite bright, as can be seen here, the females are what might be called the "null hypothesis" for bee coloration "“ brownish grey on the head and thorax with a black abdomen with white transverse hair bands.

This is picture 8 from a 12 picture invited series by Matt Buffington (matt.buffington@usda.gov) at the USDA Parastitic Hymentoptera group using specimens from the U.S. Natural History Museum Smithsonian. Matt uses a system very similar to ours to photograph and stack this super tiny wasp.

Why do you insist, Pilgrim, on planting your garden with geraniums, tea roses, and begonias? You could be planting your garden to Woodlands sunflowers and then you would have the opportunity to help out the uncommon and undoubtedly declining Paranthidium jugatorium.

Feeds Baby Oil. Yes, a subcult of the many bees of the world are those who, in addition to feeding their young pollen, feed them oil from plants that produce oil for that very purpose. Here is such a bee, a Paratetrapedia collected by Tim McMahon in Costa Rica. It has special hairs to transport the oil to the nest.

Pasites maculatus, White-spotted Red Cuckoo Bee, specimen collected by Ron McGinley in PakistanTaxonomists have given plenty of Red Cuckoo Bees names, 23 globally to be exact, but only the White-spotted Red Cuckoo Bee has received much attention beyond the usual cataloging.

The Carpenter bee flower. This is one of the passion flowers, Passiflora incarnata, designed to be pollinated by Carpenter bees which fit right in and are daubed by pollen (note the stigmas are those large white things ABOVE the stamens). Since each vine is self incompatible they have to get it right. Flower and photograph by Helen Lowe Metzman.