Images

Lasioglossum marinense, from the San Juan Islands National Historic Park, found in the eastern parts of the Pacific Northwest. Photograph by Dejen Mengis.

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Lasioglossum near puteulanum, male, A not previously known invasive bee for the Hawaiian Islands, March, 2012 Oahu

Lasioglossum nymphaearum, female, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan, September 2011

Female Northern Black Widow Spider, Beltsville, MD Prince George's County, Collected by Jessica Zelt

Unknown Leaf Beetle collected and , at Kenilworth Aquatic gardens. Nice shot showing the exposed flying wings under the wing coverings you would normally only see (elytra). Small about the size of a grain of rice. Photo by Sydney Price.

Unknown Leafhopper, Placed in handsanitizer in a cuvette, Beltsville, Maryland

The False Potato Beetle. Closely related to the Colorado Potato Beetle, but prefers other potato relatives such as Horsenettle. Proportions, colors, layout....exquisite. Collected by the fabulous potato beetle researcher Don Weber at the Beltsville Agriculture Research Center.

A study of proportions, particularly the area around the eye, this Angulate Spittlebug was captured in Upper Marlboro, MarylandCanon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Photographer: Sam Droege, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

A micro arrangement of moss and Cladonia lichen a few millimeters wide.

Another micro arrangement of moss and lichen a few millimeters wide. 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, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

An interesting bee from Florida. Collected by Anthony Abbate. Not much is know about this species, it shows up in collections not very commonly and has western counterparts which may, or may not, be the same species. So much to do!

As you can see from the tattered edges of the wings...this is an old bee, meaning it has been out and about for about 5 weeks. This is also a male, one could count the antennal segments (13 in males, 12 in females) but you can also tell by the greatly expanded white front legs, these are used to cover the females eyes during mating....

Megachile campanulae, male, Kent County, Maryland, June 2012

Megachile furgalis, female, Western Maryland, July 2012

Megachile lanata, male, Hawaii, Oahu, represents a new species for the islands in the Pacific, originally from Africa, now widespread in the Caribbean, March 2012

Megachile rotundata, male, Maryland 2012

What an interesting species. Instead of flying during the day, this species flies just before dawn and just after dusk, times where we have difficulty seeing. This species, however, forages on crepuscular and night fowering flowers, more often associated with bats and moths. Note the large eyes and ocelli.

Meganomia binghami, Bingham 's Giant, collected in South Africa by Bryan DanforthMales of many species of bee have various modifications that are not found in the females and are presumably sexually selected "“ they arose because the females preferred males with, rather than those without, these strange features.

Melanempis scoliiformis, Bottle Green Madagascan Cuckoo, specimen collected in MadagascarAlmost all of the bees native to the large and geographically isolated island of Madagascar are endemic (as are most of the flora and the rest of the fauna for that matter), occurring only on that Island and not on the mainland of Africa.

Melanempis scoliiformis, Bottle Green Madagascan Cuckoo, specimen collected in MadagascarAlmost all of the bees native to the large and geographically isolated island of Madagascar are endemic (as are most of the flora and the rest of the fauna for that matter), occurring only on that Island and not on the mainland of Africa.