Status and Trends Program

A very very variable in color (polymorphic) species in the stinkbug family from South America. I have a couple of other examples, but there seems to be no limit to the color variations this species has. How lovely and mysterious. Not sure what the research is on this thing, but it must be an interesting story. This is what you find when you dig around in the National

Here is a carpenter bee species from Australia that has a very different look and feel from our North American species. Very likely in a different subfamily but taxonomically and morphologically there must be great similarities to keep them within the same genus. Other than being a male I don't know anything more about this specimen other than it was in Laurence Packer's

Lasioglossum surianae, Male, Florida, Miami-Dade County

New Zealand. A pretty big island group. It has roughly the land mass of Colorado. Bee-wise the comparison ends. Colorado probably has well over 1000 bee species where as New Zealand...but about 50. Here is one. Nesocolletes (an endemic New Zealand genus) fulvescens. This was collected by Mike Turell while visiting. I like the mood of these pictures. Sydney Price

Well, most of the time I don't think our pictures resonate as much when desaturated, however, the previous uploaded midge seems to want that, so here it is.

Colletes inaequalis, Prince George's County, MD

Female Colletes compactus

In rough translation this would be the "Florida Masked Bee." Tiny, grain of rice things, and usually mistaken for wasps as they carry their pollen internally rather than in their body hairs like other bees. Thus they have reverted to the wasp shape from whence bees came. This is a rare species collected by Heather Campbell as part of her survey of a sandhill area of North

Two different specimens of Andrena geranii. A northernish species that appears to be a specialist on ....geraniums. Notable is the slight blue metallic sheen to the body. Aaman Dengis and Brooke Alexander took the pictures. Photography Information: Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler

A little parasitic Lasioglossum from Frederick County, Maryland. The female invades nests of other Lasioglossum species and lays her egg in their nest. The host egg/baby does not fair well after that. The most common of the parasitic Lasioglossum species. Note the long pointed jaws of the female....likely good for something, but I know of no records of their use.

Collected in the deserts of Cochise County in Arizona as part of the famous Bee Course there by Tim McMahon, these speedy little bees are found throughout much of North America. At this moment these are considered a "subspecies" rather than full species but if you compare the visuals on these specimen to those of eastern species you will see that while the body form is