Images

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 - 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.

Periodically, I take pictures of things other than bees that cross my path. Here, is a small beetle, collected a few weeks ago at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge. Its very small, taken at 10X and that's about all I can tell you other than it likely was collected on flowers along with bees.

A gynandromorph is a bee that exhibits characteristics of both sexes. In the other two species (Lasioglossum and Bombus) the split was bilateral..one side male and the other, female. In this Anthidium oblongatum (an introduced species) almost the entire bee is female with the apparent exception of having a seventh abdominal segment and genitalia.

A gynandromorph is a bee that exhibits characteristics of both sexes. In the other two species (Lasioglossum and Bombus) the split was bilateral..one side male and the other, female. In this Anthidium oblongatum (an introduced species) almost the entire bee is female with the apparent exception of having a seventh abdominal segment and genitalia.

Antidium porterae....we recently uploaded somem pictures of the male and here, now, is the female. Collected in Hildalgo County, NM by an A. Melin. Note on the side shot the belly full of pollen attached to the pollen collecting hairs located there.

Anthidiums...in this case A. porterae....pretty spiffy very toothy (in the female) thick, direct flying marked in patterns of yellow over black. What is not to like. This one was collected in the boot heel of New Mexico by C.C. Nicholson. Pictures by Miss Elizabeth Garcia.

Anthidiums...in this case A. porterae....pretty spiffy very toothy (in the female) thick, direct flying marked in patterns of yellow over black. What is not to like. This one was collected in the boot heel of New Mexico by C.C. Nicholson. Pictures by Miss Elizabeth Garcia.

Antidium porterae....we recently uploaded somem pictures of the male and here, now, is the female. Collected in Hildalgo County, NM by an A. Melin. Note on the side shot the belly full of pollen attached to the pollen collecting hairs located there.

Just a quick upload of an Anthidium utahense. There should be a couple more pictures coming. This from Claire Kremen's work in California. Photo by Erick Hernandez.

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Anthophora bomboides. Fuzzy . Faking the bumble bee look to fool birds into thinking they can sting like a bumble bee. Here is one from San Juan Island in Washington State. This species occurs throughout the continent....but....its look differs across that huge geographic range. Are they more than one species or not? Does anyone care? You?

Anthophora bomboides, a rather cosmopolitan Anthophora. Found throughout the north and down the mountain chains on both sides of the continent. I have my suspicions that western and eastern populations are possibly different species, but so far no one has talked to the bees' dna about that.

One of the few species in the genus Anthophora with a strong pollen preference. Its almost solely found on Boraginaceae, especially Alkanna and Anchusa.

Anthophora curta....found in the drylands/deserts of western U.S. and Mexico. This is a rather small Anthophora and like many of the group, well groomed with small, short, mini=branched hairs. It seems to prefer composites and this particular one was found near the nowhere place of San Simone, Arizona at the eastern edge of its range. Collected by Don Harvey.

One of the common species found in early spring in the olive groves and flower-rich phryganic habitats of Greece. Little is known about this species and some of its sibling species and there is a great deal of confusion regarding its identity. Collected by Jelle Devalez in the Aegean islands.

One of the common species found in early spring in the olive groves and flower-rich phryganic habitats of Greece. Little is known about this species and some of its sibling species and there is a great deal of confusion regarding its identity. Collected by Jelle Devalez in the Aegean islands.

Another small Anthophora from the West Coast. This one is A. exigua and was collected in Yosemite National Park as part of ongoing studies of the fire ecology of that Park by the Claire Kremen Laboratory.

Compact small bee want to meet compact small flowers. Anthophora flexipes is definitely cute, though, of course, we can let that shade its importance as a pollinator in the high lands of Yosemite National Park.

A wee little Anthophora. Meet Anthophora flexipes. I don't know much about this species since it lives out West where I don't live, but it is cute and it is an Anthophora. Collected way up the mountains from a burn study in Yosemite National Park by Claire Kremen's bee study group.

A wee little Anthophora. Meet Anthophora flexipes. I don't know much about this species since it lives out West where I don't live, but it is cute and it is an Anthophora. Collected way up the mountains from a burn study in Yosemite National Park by Claire Kremen's bee study group.