Images

Brachyhesma species, Australian Minute Bee, specimen collected in AustraliaLong: Until recently those who worked on the taxonomy of bees, or taxonomy in general for that matter, were men. Culturally that imbalance is now shifting, though we clearly still have a ways to go.

Brachyhesma species, Australian Minute Bee, specimen collected in AustraliaLong: Until recently those who worked on the taxonomy of bees, or taxonomy in general for that matter, were men. Culturally that imbalance is now shifting, though we clearly still have a ways to go.

Agrilus ruficollis from my backyard. Likely from my moth sheet, but am running through my backlog of pictures and can't recall.

Power...This is Bombus citrinus, a female just emerged from where she hibernated overwinter and looking for the new nests of a queen bumblebee, note the sting on the prominent tail end of this bee, she uses that to eliminate or paralyze the female of another bumblebee, taking over the nest and essentially enslaving the daughters of the queen to now raise her young.

The odd case of Bombus citrinus. This species is a nest parasite on other Bumble Bees and as is the case in many, if perhaps not all, the parasitic species it has an unusually long top of the head...in other words the distance from the ocelli to the back of the head is longer than in other species.

A parasite of other bumblebeeds, B. citrinus, is the most common parasitic species in the East, but, as a parasite this still means it is very uncommon. The tale is simple, this species invades a nest, eliminates queen, and makes workers raise its own young.

Parasite. Nest parasite to be exact. Formerly in the genus Psithyrus these bees are now in the genus Bombus, with the rest of the bumble bees.

Parasite. Nest parasite to be exact. Formerly in the genus Psithyrus these bees are now in the genus Bombus, with the rest of the bumble bees.

Bombus fraternus - Here is one of the very uncommon bumblebees that are of great concern these days, due to introduced parasites that have caused this species and its sister taxa to crash. Fortunately, they are still around, at least in small numbers.

Ceratina guarnacciana, female, Dominican Republic

Ah, a mysterious Ceratina introduced into the Hawaiian island chain. This species is found throughout the islands now, but no one is quite sure what the species is. It is near the species C. dentipes but may or may not be it. So many mysteries in the world and too many introduced species. Photography by Sierra Williams and Photoshopping by Elizabeth Garcia.

Tiny Ceratina from Panama...in the first picture in this series you will see a rod going into its body to hold it in position for photographing in our mini bee studio. Actually this is not a rod but the very tip of the finest acupuncture pin. Yep, that is a small bee.

GIANT Ceratina from Puntarenas, Costa Rica, biggest I have ever seen. Collected by Valerie Peters. Check out the flange on the lower cheek of the side shot. 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.

A male Ceratina species from Bee Gardens in San Francisco that are surveyed for bees by Jaime Palawek. This crisp litte bee is less than the size of a grain of rice (white, long grain) and glitters with smooth metallic blueish green colors. Glinty enough to be problematic when photographing.

GIANT Ceratina from Puntarenas, Costa Rica, biggest I have ever seen. Collected by Valerie Peters. Check out the flange on the lower cheek of the side shot. 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.

Yet more Ceratina pictures, diversity demands it. This series is from specimens collected in Panama by Sandra Rehan (UNH) as part of her mission to know everything there is to know about Ceratinas.

Ceratina near dentipes, female, Hawaii, Oahu, March 2012

Ceratina smaragdula, male, Hawaii, Oahu, March 2012

One of two shots of yet another slime mold group found by Susan Hopkins during the ATBI Adirondack bioblitz this past week. One can see where they get the common name of coral slime molds.

This lovely purple blue Chrysidid wasp was found be Gene Scarpulla on the dredge spoil augmented Hart-Miller Island in the Chesapeake Bay. It is interesting to ponder whey these nest parasites are inevitably a bright metallic color and not something seemingly more cryptic (cryptic to an insect and cryptic to a mammal are likely two different things).

Cuba, GTMO, Guantanamo Bay