Status and Trends Program

Another shot, and a rather charming one I think, of a male Megachile rotundata. Sierra Williams took the picture and Elizabeth Garcia did the Shopping. 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. USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique:

Unknown species of fly found in Upper Marlboro, Maryland

Unknown Chalcidoidea Wasp, Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, Florida

A little tiny Andrena bee collected in the sandhills of North Carolina by Heather Campbell. Not much is know about this species, other than it appears to be uncommon and spotty in occurrence and runs from the West to the East coast with a fair amount of variation, which usually indicates that other species may be hidden within this one. So much work to do. Photograph by

Perdita asteris, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Spicebush, Lindera benzoin, while early blooming, I see few if any bees on the flowers. This specimen collected and photographed by Helen Lowe Metzman in Howard County, 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

A series of pictures of a queen and a male of the northernish bumble bee Bombus vagans. Still a reasonable common component of northern Appalachian systems, its been retreating from its lower elevation and southern edges over the last century. Whether the issues are climate change or the myriad of other factors that control what critter occurs in what place is hard to

Check out the rear pointing spines at the end of the thorax on this male Nomia from Vietnam, there has to be something interesting going on there. As with other Nomia this male has expanded hind leg segments, some nice pearl banding no the abdomen, and a little color pop from the thin trailing edges of the wings from wing interference patterns. From the Packer Lab at

Lasioglossum forbesii - A relatively uncommon sweat bee from near Front Royal, Virginia at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. There are quite a few species in this group of Lasioglossum sensu strictu that look about the same, but there are subtle differences that amuse be taxonomists, in this case you can see the lovely layout of the speci Hymenopteramen as it rests on

Coelioxys porterae, male, Maine, Acadia National Park

The bee genus Colletes...also known as Cellophane Bees because of their habitat of lining their cells with a plastic like substance...is full of relatively uncommon bees that specialist on a the pollen of a small number of plants or groups of plants. This may be the case with C. phaceliae given its name...but I am not clear. This bees was colleted at Badlands National