Images

Xenoglossa strenua. People who know something about native bees often know about the "Squash Bee" Peponapis pruinosa. However, there are other native squash bees, and here is one. This is Xenoglossa strenua.

Aglaoapis tridentata, Spined Goth, specimen collected by Heinrich Friese in AustriaThere are but three species of Goths, oddly scattered across the northern Old World with the Spined Goth occurring across the temperate regions, one in India, and one way down in South Africa.

Just one section of Swamp Agrimony (Agrimonia parviflora). Picture and specimen from Howard County, Maryland by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Amegilla....one of a large group of large Old World bees that blend and fracture colors in wonderful ways. In this case this male Amegilla from Australia from the Laurence Packer Lab bee slots in a whole series of subtly iridescent green hairs amidst a mix of white and black, quite nice and surely a useful design for a rug or tapestry of some sort.

Amegilla....one of a large group of large Old World bees that blend and fracture colors in wonderful ways. In this case this male Amegilla from Australia from the Laurence Packer Lab bee slots in a whole series of subtly iridescent green hairs amidst a mix of white and black, quite nice and surely a useful design for a rug or tapestry of some sort.

Tongue of the Amegilla. You can see the longgggg tongue with its brushed tip designed to lap nectar and the odd bits of pollen. You can also see the sheathes and the palps the fold out from under the head to create a tube for sucking up nectar when plentiful. From India = An unknown species of Amegila collected by Suzanne Batra.

False Indigo Plant. My impression is that this plant has moved only recently into a very common status withing the Chesapeake Bay area, now found commonly along water edges of the upper Bay and fresh and brackish rivers. Seems to be good for species in Megachilidae.

Probably a specialist on bindweed pollen, this group of bees runs from the Southwestern states down into southern South America. Note the expanded femurs of this male, interesting to speculate as to why. From the Packer Lab.

Tim McMahon hunted down this Ancyloscelis in Costa Rica. The long tongue on this relatively small bee is a thing. This group as a whole has an affinity for flowers with long carollas. In particular, the love morning glories. Which is interesting, because you don't really see morning glories in the seed mix for pollinator plots.

Andrena wellesleyana is one of the many Andrena species. It is also one of a number of species where the males have extensive yellow on their faces while the females are completely black. I the bulk of species both males and females have black faces.

Andrena wellesleyana is one of the many Andrena species. It is also one of a number of species where the males have extensive yellow on their faces while the females are completely black. I the bulk of species both males and females have black faces.

Andrena aliciae, female

Andrena aliciae, female

Maine, Collected by Sara Bushman

Pennington County, South Dakota, Badlands National Park

A large bright green with blue overtones Agapostemon from Badlands National Park. One of several species present there and very similar to A. virescens and a bit tricky to tell apart. Photo by Wayne Boo with help from Ben Smith on upping the Photoshopping techniques.

Pennington County, South Dakota, Badlands National Park

Yet another Agapostemon, this one was collected in the southern remote portions of Badlands National Park in South Dakota within the Pineridge Indian ReservationCanon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

Yet another Agapostemon, this one was collected in the southern remote portions of Badlands National Park in South Dakota within the Pineridge Indian ReservationCanon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

Gliding in from Costa Rica comes a moderalely large, moderately green bee. An Agapostemon nasutus. There are a lot of the these bright green bees out there...Not just in C.R. but throughout the Americas. Beautiful, and once you start paying attention, quite common. But are there any songs written about them? No. Poems? Zero. Green Bee Secret Societies?

Dominican Republic, The only described all black Agapostemon in the Caribbean is from Cuba. (A. obscuratus). Collected in November of 2012. This is either A. obscuratus and a new record for Hispaniola or a new species.