Images

Andrena merriami, female Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Andrena merriami, South Dakota, Badlands National Park

A couple of so so pictures of Andrena milwaukeensis. Check out the tiny dark hairs in the facial fovea.. Photo by Dejen Mengis

A bee (Andrena morrisonella) that may or may not be the same species as A. imitatrix.

Ugly Bee...For sure, but an interesting one. Brooke Goggins took this one on a grayish background to highlight the wings of this Andrena nasonii. This specimen was collected by Gabriel Karns as part of a study of rights of way in eastern Ohio. We noticed that it has some funny vein business going on.

Andrena nasonii. In this case a male, one of the least distinguishable species there is, but fortunately very common and so there are small and differences between the species and others that together allows us to recognize it when plowing through thousands of them. Picture taken by Sierra Williams.

An abundant Andrena, often found in lawns and disturbed field like situations. The males are as generic as they come but have a tiny point coming out of their integument on either side of the underside of their thorax. Thank goodness. Photographer ...

Sunflowers. Specifically, the genus Helianthus to separate out the other "sunflower" plants. Only found in North America. So tall and glorious that we have adopted many for our gardens. Thrusting skyward they telegraph their supply of pollen and nectar to the bees that only feed their young pollen of Sunflower. Here is one of them. The appropriately named A.

Pennington County, South Dakota, Badlands National Park

Andrena illini, A rather large, spring bee, I associate this one with Woodlands and the edge of Woodlands, where found them feeding on blackberries in particular. This one was collected in Somerset County by Timothy McMahon. Photograph by Hannah Sutton.

Andrena Illini. Named after the University of Illinois football team by Wally LaBerge. While he was one of the great taxonomy experts that we recently lost. He was a specialist in Andrena and Melissodes and dabbled in several other genera of bees.

Andrena illini, female

Andrena illinoiensis, South Dakota, Badlands National Park,

Andrena illinoiensis, South Dakota, Badlands National Park,

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.