Images

A relatively common bee of Southern Chile. Seen regularly on Laurence Packer's expedition there in 2017. A lovely male. Photograph by Erick Hernandez.

Another Chrysidid wasp (cuckoo wasp) from the Hart-Miller Dredge Spoil site in Baltimore Harbor, collected by Eugene Scarpulla, photographed by Brooke Alexander Identification by Lynn KimseyCanon 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 o

A lovely Leaf Beetle, an eater of Dogwood leaves. Found in the Adirondack Mountains as part of the ATBI / BioBlitz. Photo stack by Dejen Mengis.

A little, somewhat flattened bee, from the mountains of Yosemite National Park. Members of this group are often very discriminating in their tastes for pollen. Feeding their young pollen often from a single genus of plants. Picky eaters I suppose. Part of a study by Claire Kremen in the high conifer regions of the Park. Photo by Anders Croft.

Calliopsis. Another of the many kinds of small bees that run the world. This is one was collected in Arizona by Tim McMahon or Don Harvey in fabulous Cochise County.

Callistethus marginatus - A scarab beetle in the Shining Leaf Chafer subfamily of the Scarab Beetles. This one from Somerset County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The photograph is taken by Betsy Bangert and Mike Burchett.

A tiny Australian. One associated with the many members of plants in the myrtle family on that continent.

Fiery Searcher. Calosoma scrutator hunts caterpillars, is big, fast, and spectacular. Just exactly why it is spectacular is clear, when attached it exudes odor heavy on the bad smells and who would want to eat that. So, if you like to dress up in iridescence of any kinds, then just be sure to bring along some repellent to keep the predators at bay.

Ah, the lovely yellow of Bombus perplexus. For some reason this species' coloration tends towards bright yellow while other eastern bumbles are more subdued in their yellowness. It varies with their age (the sun fade bumbles plumage) but a nice lemon yellow usually means this species.

Sections of a male Bombus perplexus, illustrating the hair and shape patterns. A regular, but somewhat uncommon bumble bee, that is noted for the more extensive yellow hairs on the thorax and abdomen than most bumble bee species. Photographs by Greta Forbes.

Let us present the first record of Bombus rufocinctus for the state of Pennsylvania. This is a not uncommon northern and western species....it just hasn't been found in PA as of yet. Some notes on its identification.

Three more bumblebees today from Yellowstone National Park, or should I say three more pictures of one bumblebee. These are shots of Bombus rufocinctus. This species is notoriously variable in its hair coloration. In this particular shot there is a great deal of reddish orange in the abdomen.

A common northern Bumble bee, Bombus ternarius seems to be relatively unaffected by the pathogen Nosema bombi that has impacted many other species. While not very visible in this view (but visible elsewhere in our collection) this species show bright orange on its abdomen and often causes people to think they have B.

A common northern Bumble bee, Bombus ternarius seems to be relatively unaffected by the pathogen Nosema bombi that has impacted many other species. While not very visible in this view (but visible elsewhere in our collection) this species show bright orange on its abdomen and often causes people to think they have B.

A bumble bee with issues. This is the Yellow-banded Bumble Bee. Or, scientifically, we call it Bombus terricola. Its one of a number of Bumbles in North America that have been penalized by the introduction of Nosema bombi, an inadvertent import from Europe.

Camponotus chromaiodes (Thank you James Trager for determination) from Chino Farms, Maryland

Dominican Republic

Canomaculina species, Beltsville, MD 2012

A bee of the early morning. Matrinal. Restricted to the southeastern United States deep sand spots where it feeds only in the early morning hours. Very uncommonly recorded now but this one was collected by Sabrie Breland in residual burned longleaf pine lands of Southeastern Georgia.

Note the unique tongue shape, characteristic of this group of bees. A bee of the early morning. Matrinal. Restricted to the southeastern United States deep sand spots where it feeds only in the early morning hours. Very uncommonly recorded now but this one was collected by Sabrie Breland in residual burned longleaf pine lands of Southeastern Georgia.

A nice fluffy male Centris attripes from Central Texas collected during a family reunion. Centris are large bumble bee sized bees and as you move into desert and tropical area in the Americas the number of bumble bees decline and the number of often oil using Centris species and the equally large Carpenter bees increase.