Images

Ancyla asiatica, Asiatic Enigma Bee collected in Turkey Nine species of Enigma Bees occur from the Western portion of the Mediterranean to Central Asia. They are called Enigma bees because it has been so difficult to decide which other bees they are closely related to. The reason for this confusion lies in their tongues.

Pachyanthidium species, Sawtooth Sputnik Bee, collected in KenyaAnother striking Sputnik Bee from Africa. This group of bees, and the Anthidiini tribe it nestles in taxonomically, are almost all characteristically striped and spotted with bright yellow, white, and red colors on a wide body, usually also with serious amounts of pitting cratering their exoskeleton.

Pachyanthidium species, Sawtooth Sputnik Bee, collected in KenyaAnother striking Sputnik Bee from Africa. This group of bees, and the Anthidiini tribe it nestles in taxonomically, are almost all characteristically striped and spotted with bright yellow, white, and red colors on a wide body, usually also with serious amounts of pitting cratering their exoskeleton.

Perilla frutescens, or Beefsteak Plant, a much hated invasive plant, but does have the virtue of both being edible and having lovely remnant seeds pods even after a long winter. Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

Lighting Experiment: Agroiconota bivittata - Another tortoise beetle, this one from a glycol trap collected by Brooke Alexander and photographed by Amber Reese, in this case the trick was to increase the lighting on the lower edge, what worked was laying a portion of styrofoam cup slit lengthwise ala butternut squash which nicely reflect the bounced flash back up o

Clerid Beetle, Enoclerus ichneumoneus, Prince George's County, Maryland

Yet another Tortoise Beetle, in this case one with a common name, the Mottled Tortoise Beetle, Deloyala guttata, a feeder on Morning Glory vines, in this case likely a feeder on Sweet Potato Vines (which are nothing but morning glory roots) collected by Brooke Alexander and picture taken by Amber Reese

A deep dimensional ethereal midnight blue, this picture only partially portraits the subtle beauty of this beetle captured on a flower during our study of pollinator webs in the Badlands

Experimental Shot of a Beetle from the Badlands of South Dakota placed on a piece of glass in our usual set up. The reflection below is very sharp except there appears to be a secondary reflection perhaps due to the 2 faces of the piece of glass interfereing, more experiments to come.

Experimental shot - Here is a beetle from by-catch from Badlands National Park. The beetle is placed on a piece of glass and stack shot using our usual set up but with black felt on the rear of the glass to minimize the gray color that seems to come from light refracting in the glass behind the specimen.

Unknown Beetle (Scarabidae?) from Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming, photographed in hand sanitizer in a quartz cuvette

Unknown Cerambycid beetle, from Laurel Maryland collected in June by Francisco Posada

This is a tachinid fly in the genus Belvosia. I caught while bee hunting and used it in this particular picture to test out a new 10X picture rig I have set up at home. Nice enough, but think I need to play around with the lighting to extract a little more contrast and 3 dimensionality.

Beggar's-Ticks of the Nodding variety. Showy, and, at times, filling ditches in low areas of Maryland. One of the native plants that seems to be happy with disturbed environments and they come with barbed seeds that stick to the coats of animals and the coats of people with equal vigor. Lots of yellow in the fall...beautiful.

Agrotis ipsilon - Black Cutworm - Another major crop pest. This species moves into northern parts of North America after overwintering in Texas and Mexico and then pulls off a couple of generations in weedy fields and particularly impacting newly planted corn. Yet another pest that looks rather beautiful when viewed up close.

Agrotis ipsilon - Black Cutworm - Another major crop pest. This species moves into northern parts of North America after overwintering in Texas and Mexico and then pulls off a couple of generations in weedy fields and particularly impacting newly planted corn. Yet another pest that looks rather beautiful when viewed up close.

Agrotis ipsilon - Black Cutworm - Another major crop pest. This species moves into northern parts of North America after overwintering in Texas and Mexico and then pulls off a couple of generations in weedy fields and particularly impacting newly planted corn. Yet another pest that looks rather beautiful when viewed up close.

Black-throated blue warbler, female, collided with a building in Washington D.C. , experimental photo of a stack of 16 pictures....feather detail came out very well, but thumb is pixilly....hard to hold that still that long

Birds regularly collide with buildings. In many instances building collisions can be decreased by turning lights off at night and using non-reflective glass. Sadly both these measures rarely happen. In major cities groups pick up birds that have struck buildings, here is a set of "blue" birds that hit buildings in Downtown Washington D.C.

Jessica Zelt found this small Blue-gray Gnatcatcher nest from the previous season on the ground at the Beltsville Agriculture Research Center a few days ago. How beautifully made of lichens, hair and spiderwebs. Photograph by Hannah Sutton. 100mm Canon used, with Zerene Stacking software.

Jessica Zelt found this small Blue-gray Gnatcatcher nest from the previous season on the ground at the Beltsville Agriculture Research Center a few days ago. How beautifully made of lichens, hair and spiderwebs. Photograph by Hannah Sutton. 100mm Canon used, with Zerene Stacking software.