Images

A head of a specimen of Bombus affinis from the tip of Long Island, collected by the fabulous Roy Lantham a Potato Farmer, naturalist, and insect collector. From what I know, Roy (now passed on) was quite the eccentric, but he made very valuable contributions to all sorts of natural history fields from his collections of local plants and animals.

Here is a bee from the Central Valley of California,part of Claire Kremen's 10 years study of hedgerows as bee repositories in industrial ag lands. Pollen-wise it leans towards composites, and, this is also a bee that can be found all the way to the East Coast... Georgia and North Carolina even. Small so likely often overlooked.

From Santa Rosa Island , one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California and part of the Channel Islands National Park come this tiny Ashmeadiella.

Laphria posticata. A lot going on here, at least for me, first there is a wonderful aesthetic contrast between the mounds of black clay and the robber fly; the crispness of the angled wings and the just imperfectness of the bilateral symmetry combined with the mirroring of the yellow hairs on the thorax in opposition to those of the abdomen.

Here is the Crystal Skipper, (Atrytonopsis quinteri) sent to me by Heather Cayton, from the Outer Banks of North Carolina where its entire range is but 2 barrier islands (one highly developed) where its caterpillars mildly munch on seaside little bluestem.

A widespread western hemisphere group, this is one of many bright green Augochlora species (others can range in the black to purple/blue spectrums), this one is special because it occurs only on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, where it was collected by Sara Prado in agricultural fields...a local pollinator.

One of THE most common bees in Eastern North America and one of the most woodland oriented. This species nests in rotting wood and I have found them overwintering underneath the loose bark of logs on the ground.

Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, Dark Purple/Blue form of this species that often occurs in coastal and Deep South situations

Anthophora porterae from the Badlands of South Dakota. This group of bees are the furry teddy bears of the bee world. Collected as part of a large study of the bees of the national park of the same name.

One of the common Anthophora species found in early spring in the olive groves of Greece. They're visiting many spring flowers that provide a lot of nectar and pollen, like Muscari and Asphodelus. This particular specimen was collected by Jelle Devalez who hunts bees in the Aegean islands..

Messy. This Anthophora is just not very common around the MidAtlantic and I can't quite figure out any particular patterns to where it is ...and where it is not. It is also distributionally interesting since it is found on both coasts, but not in the prairies. Very suspicious. There needs to be an investigation. Are these different species?

Here is Anthophora ursina...a male. It has populations in the West and the East but none in the middle of the continent. Which makes one wonder if there are two or one species involved. In the past at least they have been considered different Subspecies. This is not a common bee. I a have seen relatively few individuals, and those from West Virginia.

A Japanese Bee in America. This is Anthophora villosula. An Anthophora that was introduced in the 80s to Eastern U.S. for ag purposes, but its potential was never realized. Now, unfortunately, it is a common and spreading alien species dispersing from its original location in the Washington D.C. area and will likely occupy much of the country at some point.

A Japanese Bee in America. This is Anthophora villosula. An Anthophora that was introduced in the 80s to Eastern U.S. for ag purposes, but its potential was never realized. Now, unfortunately, it is a common and spreading alien species dispersing from its original location in the Washington D.C. area and will likely occupy much of the country at some point.

Beltsville, Maryland Honey bee wing, Apis mellifera

Queen Bee photo spread. Collected by Tim McMahon from a colony in Talbot County, while slightly gummy as Honeybees are want to be, this series shows the longer abdomen, the odd curly dark hairs on top of the head and the broad hind tibia, but lacking the hairs and pollen basket that the workers have.

Apis mellifera, honey bee, pupae in the purple eye phase. Specimens provided by Krisztina Christmon from University of Maryland. Photography Information: Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200.

Dead Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, after striking a building in the fall of 2012 in Washington D.C. Collected by Lights out DC

Black Chokeberry. Yummy bee plant and yummy (though slightly bitter) berry full of antioxidants. Sadly this seems to be a target of deer munching, but its available for planting in your yard and guaranteed to be a good plant in the spring and supply some breakfast berries for your cereal.

Asarum canadense - Wild Ginger. The deep purple/maroon on this bulky little flower tells you that it aims to attract beetles and flies rather than bees. Check out the fine textures to the flower body. To what evolutionary end to the small projects and long white hairs make? Picture and specimen by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Another small Ashmeadiella species (A. aridula) again from Claire Kremen's studies. This one's distributions fills the western states but does not leak into Canada and Mexico. I am sure there are stories to tell here, but I basically know that they are small and nest in holes in wood...often using rosin. Photos by Erick Hernandez.