Images

Rare Parasitic Bee (Nomada obliterata). Some bees are just rare. Or, at least rarely found. This specimen here is the first known specimen from Washington D.C. where it was discovered at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, along the long neglected Anacostia River. Neglected but not absent of biodiversity. What is the "obliterata" part of its name about?

Rare Parasitic Bee (Nomada obliterata). Some bees are just rare. Or, at least rarely found. This specimen here is the first known specimen from Washington D.C. where it was discovered at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, along the long neglected Anacostia River. Neglected but not absent of biodiversity. What is the "obliterata" part of its name about?

Rare Parasitic Bee (Nomada obliterata). Some bees are just rare. Or, at least rarely found. This specimen here is the first known specimen from Washington D.C. where it was discovered at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, along the long neglected Anacostia River. Neglected but not absent of biodiversity. What is the "obliterata" part of its name about?

Nomada texana, male, face

Yet more uncommon Nomada from Southern Minnesota. This one, Nomada tiftonensis, is small, out in the summer and mostly passed over as a wasp, I suspect by most collectors of bees. This specimen was collected by Scott Leddy in his study of Prairie remnants in Southern Minnesota. Photography by Ashleigh Jacobs.

Yet more uncommon Nomada from Southern Minnesota. This one, Nomada tiftonensis, is small, out in the summer and mostly passed over as a wasp, I suspect by most collectors of bees. This specimen was collected by Scott Leddy in his study of Prairie remnants in Southern Minnesota. Photography by Ashleigh Jacobs.

Yet more uncommon Nomada from Southern Minnesota. This one, Nomada tiftonensis, is small, out in the summer and mostly passed over as a wasp, I suspect by most collectors of bees. This specimen was collected by Scott Leddy in his study of Prairie remnants in Southern Minnesota. Photography by Ashleigh Jacobs.

Nomada vegana. A rare nest parasite. Comes out in mid-summer, its not clear to me which bees it targets. Most Andrena are done by then, Agapostemon are possibilities. Occurs in the East and out to Utah in the West, but not all the way to the West Coast. Caught by Miriam Jenkins during her studies of Watermelons on the outer Coastal Plain of South Carolina.

Another cool Nomada from Southern Minnesota. This one, Nomada vincta, is regular, but the color variant here is a bit different from specimens further to the West. This specimen was collected by Scott Leddy in his study of Prairie remnants in Southern Minnesota. Another new state record. Photography by Amanda Robinson.

Nomada

A good Nomia pictures always makes them look like space aliens and they might as well be given how far far far different insects are from our particularly model of living on this earth. This space alien is from the deserts of Oman where there are most new species to find, deserts being high on the list of locations with high bee diversity.

A male Nomia from Thailand, note the corkscrewed antennae and the greatly expanded leg segments (presumably useful in mating at nest aggregations).

South Dakota, Badlands National Park

South Dakota, Badlands National Park

South Dakota, Badlands National Park

Here we have the nest parasite of one of Puerto Rico's Centris bees. Its lays its eggs in the nests of the host, kills the hosts egg or young and eats the stores. Taxonomically its not clear what this species is but it appears to be close to (aff. = affiliated with) M. rufipes. Perhaps you, dear reader, will figure that out.

Collected by Tim McMahon in Costa Rica, this is a nest parasite of Centris species, this is Mesoplia rufipes. Nicely aglow with red legs and a blue abdomen. Photo by Anders Croft.

The complicated underside of Coelioxys modesta. Do you really relate to something so radically different from yourself? We have very little morphologically in common with Mr. C. modesta but we do share the planet. Photography by Heagan Ahmed. Shopping by Wayne Boo.

Danaus plexippus. The Monarch Butterfly. Maryland.

One of the most common bees in the East...if only we could figure out how to identify it more easily. Here we have Lasioglossum trigeminum. Fits right in with A. admirandum, A. versatum, and A. callidum and I often struggle with dark second thoughts about the specimens Id, because of all the overlap.

Nomada affabilis...a very large Nomada. I think this species is almost certainly a nest parasite of bees in the genus Eucera...which is quite a different path from most of the other Nomada which are primarily, though not exclusively, nest parasites of Andrena.