Images

A beautiful little hole nesting bee, this Heriades is either H. variolosa or H. leavitti. The females are impossible to tell apart, unless the molecular hood were open. Collected on Chino Farm by Dan Small in Kent County, Maryland. Photograph by Brooke Alexander.

Heriades variolosa/leavittii, male

Heriades variolosus/leavitti, male

New state record, collected by Jelle Devalez in a sand pit in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Nearest other record is in Illinois!

A very cool find. This is a lovely male Dieunomia nevadensis. It was found in Maryland at one of the Chaney Sand Mines. They kindly scraped a section of the site and sure enough it was colonized by all sorts of cool sand bees. No sand...no sand bees. That sort of thing. This one is particularly noteworth because the nearest record was from North Carolina.

Here is a 2 picture series of persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) flowers. Some trees are male (staminate) and some are female (pistilate). The easy to come by literature of the web searchers says they are pollinated by insects and the wind. I have never collected off them (too high up and am guessing not super attractive to bees).

Ophiogomphus susbehcha, collected by Richard Orr along the Potomac River, super rare snaketail species

Ophiogomphus susbehcha, collected by Richard Orr along the Potomac River, super rare snaketail species

Isle Royale, Michigan

Isle Royale, Michigan

Isle Royale, Michigan

Isle Royale, Michigan

A wetlands bee, usually with red on the basal segments of the abdomen but not always. The males with extensive yellow on their faces. Here from the marshes of Kent County, Maryland

Colors. You know, bees are so interesting sometimes. Here is Hylaeus pictipes. Jason Gibbs found this species up in Ontario, Canada where it did not belong since it is a bee of the Old World.

Colors. You know, bees are so interesting sometimes. Here is Hylaeus pictipes. Jason Gibbs found this species up in Ontario, Canada where it did not belong since it is a bee of the Old World.

Colors. You know, bees are so interesting sometimes. Here is Hylaeus pictipes. Jason Gibbs found this species up in Ontario, Canada where it did not belong since it is a bee of the Old World.

From Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Eastern Shore of Maryland...a Hylaeus associated with coastal marshes. Hylaeus schwarzii. Near the marshes, but not usually found in them. Mysterious. Photography by Ashleigh Jacobs.

From Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Eastern Shore of Maryland...a Hylaeus associated with coastal marshes. Hylaeus schwarzii. Near the marshes, but not usually found in them. Mysterious. Photography by Ashleigh Jacobs.

A very uncommon masked bee. This is Hylaeus sparsus, which is definitely identified by the spike-like angle on the front coxa (the closest joint to the body). Sadly you cannot see that feature in this picture. More of a spring species than many of the Hylaeus it occurs here and there and appears to be associated with wooded areas.

A very uncommon masked bee. This is Hylaeus sparsus, which is definitely identified by the spike-like angle on the front coxa (the closest joint to the body). Sadly you cannot see that feature in this picture. More of a spring species than many of the Hylaeus it occurs here and there and appears to be associated with wooded areas.

An underlooked bee, so to speak. Hylaeus sparsus, a small Hylaeus that comes with a nice spine where the leg attaches to the thorax...making ID easy ...if you look for that spine, otherwise it is another small Masked Bee. This one was collected by Jessica Rykken in Shenandoah National Park.