Images

Super rare. Only a few individuals of this species have been found, but, interestingly, this species has been found twice in Missouri, and once in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida. This one was sent to me by Mike Arduser and collected in Clark County, Missouri. Note the lovely flair of hairs around the end of the abdomen....very distinctive.

East Coast, West Coast, this parasitic species, Coelioxys octodentata occurs throughout the United States, almost completely filling the country with records and stopping at the border for some reason. How closely related are the specimens on the Pacific edge versus the Atlantic? Unknown, but for now they are just one species. Red legs are classic C.

A nest parasite, this time a male. Coelioxys octodentata is a counterpart to the more commonly found C. sayi. I associate this species with drier and perhaps sandier locations, perhaps as the nest parasite of things like Megachile brevis. Note the characteristic teeth sticking out of the rear of this bee.

Another Coelioxys nest parasite bee from the Adirondack Mountains of New York. This one is a nest parasite of big Leaf Cutters like Megachile latimanus. Here are shots of a male and a female.

Chiasmognathus c.f. gussakovskii, Cross Mandibled Bee, specimen collected by Wojciech Pulawksi in TajikistanVery small bees have very small nest parasites.

Pseudagapostemon citricornis - More Chilean bees from Laurence Packer's expedition to southern Chile. Photographs by Kelly Graninger.

A lovely blue green teal spider wasp with purple highlights and infuscated wings. Collected in Southern Chile with Laurence Packer.

The langorous bright whiteness of the Virginia Fringetree...this specimenk (and photograph) from howard county taken by Helen Lowe Metzman as part of her documentation of native plants. Attractive to bees. Should be planted more often.

GTMO - Cuba, June 2011, Need identification

The most common Coelioxys in the East. This is C. sayi. Now, C. sayi is a nest parasite (like all Coelioxys) and it likes to drop its eggs in the nest of what is usually the most common Leaf Cutter in the East Megachile mendica.

The most common Coelioxys in the East. This is C. sayi. Now, C. sayi is a nest parasite (like all Coelioxys) and it likes to drop its eggs in the nest of what is usually the most common Leaf Cutter in the East Megachile mendica.

Rare. This bee (Colletes aestivalis) is rarely seen these days. I have never collected one despite it being recorded in Maryland in the far distant past. So it was nice to see this specimen from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia collected by Jessica Rykken in her studies of the Park's bee fauna. Good news.

Rare. This bee (Colletes aestivalis) is rarely seen these days. I have never collected one despite it being recorded in Maryland in the far distant past. So it was nice to see this specimen from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia collected by Jessica Rykken in her studies of the Park's bee fauna. Good news.

Rare. This bee (Colletes aestivalis) is rarely seen these days. I have never collected one despite it being recorded in Maryland in the far distant past. So it was nice to see this specimen from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia collected by Jessica Rykken in her studies of the Park's bee fauna. Good news.

Colletes brevocornis, and uncommonly collected species, one that I associate with dry open areas, it is perhaps a specialist on Venus looking glass in the campanulae family. Difficult to say, since so few have been collected but that is our best guess at this time.

Colletes brevocornis, and uncommonly collected species, one that I associate with dry open areas, it is perhaps a specialist on Venus looking glass in the campanulae family. Difficult to say, since so few have been collected but that is our best guess at this time.

Colletes brevocornis, and uncommonly collected species, one that I associate with dry open areas, it is perhaps a specialist on Venus looking glass in the campanulae family. Difficult to say, since so few have been collected but that is our best guess at this time.

Chino Farms Maryland....they are restoring their grasslands and open land on what I think is the largest farm in Maryland;and as a bonus they got a specimen of the very rare Colletes brevicornis. Hannah and Ashleigh, new interns from my lab took this picture...good job.

Super cool, Super rare, Super fun. Who would say such a thing about a little brown bee? In this case it is Colletes ciliatus. Here is a bee that was featured in a paper we wrote several years ago as one of the "missing bees" not seen for many years.

Colletes compactus is a late fall Colletes, specializing on things like goldenrod. Colletes is an interesting group....different species coming out throughout the year and many of them highly specialized in what they gather pollen from. They perhaps are all specialists, but some are quite rare and so we know little (a common story).

Colletes compactus is a late fall Colletes, specializing on things like goldenrod. Colletes is an interesting group....different species coming out throughout the year and many of them highly specialized in what they gather pollen from. They perhaps are all specialists, but some are quite rare and so we know little (a common story).