Images

The Endangered Bumble Bee. Bombus affinis. The Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee. Here is a a male from Racine Wisconsin collected years ago when this species was one of the most common species. The collector was W.L. Macior and his specimens live in the National Collection at the Smithsonian.

Augochloropsis anonyma, female, Florida

Augochloropsis anonyma, female, Florida

Western Maryland, May 2012

An Experiment. The B. tinctoria seeds came from a the old Patuxent Food Habits collection. We have an entire cabinet filled with seeds collected from the teens to the 30's from around the U.S. Orphaned now, I am taking pictures so they have at least one final use.

Ah, something in the pea family. This is Baptisia tinctoria...horseflyweed. If I find a patch of this relatively uncommon plant I always spend some time seeing what bees are active around it. In particularly I am looking for Anthidiellums and other members of Megachilidae. Definitely something to plant in your yard if you can get hold of them.

Serapista species , Unknown Pillow Bee, collected in South Africa by Laurence PackerThe zebra-like markings on this bee are diagnostic, the white stripes are formed from blade like brilliant white hairs that are particularly beautiful when viewed under high magnification. This genus forms a small group of four species found only in Africa.

Euaspis , Redtail, collected in Kenya by Laurence PackerRedtails are another home invader of other bee 's nests. However, Redtails have a different strategy than most Cuckoo Bees. Instead of dropping an egg in the nest cell while the host bee is away, they wait until the nest of a Lithurgus or Megachile bee is complete and sealed and the female has left.

Ceratinas occur world-wide and really have the color/form/sculpturing thing down. They are the definition of crispness and elegance in my book. Expect more to come. This one comes from another worn-torn part of the world, the Crimean peninsula, but, really, bees, the study of natural history, pretty neutral ground that all can appreciate.

Mourecotelles, Unknown Hairyeye Bee, collected in ArgentinaWhat an attractive bee, unfortunately, that is about all we can say about this species other than it is found in the western temperate regions of South America.

One of the common Anthophora species found in early spring in the olive groves of Greece. They're visiting many spring flowers that provide a lot of nectar and pollen, like Muscari and Asphodelus. This particular specimen was collected by Jelle Devalez who hunts bees in the Aegean islands.

A slightly disheveled Anthophora from the Carribbean collected by Sara Prado. This species is known from Hispaniola to the western part of the Lesser Antilles. Wouldn't it be interesting to figure out the ancient history of this species colonization/evolution in the island chain. Pictures taken by intern team Maggie Yuan and Sara Guerrieri.

A slightly disheveled Anthophora from the Carribbean collected by Sara Prado. This species is known from Hispaniola to the western part of the Lesser Antilles. Wouldn't it be interesting to figure out the ancient history of this species colonization/evolution in the island chain. Pictures taken by intern team Maggie Yuan and Sara Guerrieri.

Here is a series of males and females of Anthophora urbana from Yolo County, California. This bee was collected in the California Central Valley in Yolo County for research on small-scale restoration in agricultural areas. Claire Kremen's 10-year study of hedgerows shows the benefits of planting native shrubs and forbs in agricultural areas for native bees.

Here is Anthophora ursina...a male. It has populations in the West and the East but none in the middle of the continent. Which makes one wonder if there are two or one species involved. In the past at least they have been considered different Subspecies. This is not a common bee. I a have seen relatively few individuals, and those from West Virginia.

Anthophora abrupta, May 2012, Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge

Anthophora occidentalis, male, Badlands National Park, June 2012

Melitoma species. One of several species that are in the Melitoma clan, that also occurred in Costa Rica. This is collected by Tim McMahon while on an expedition to that lovely country. The species is currently unknown, at least to us, but note the very long tongue, super characteristic.

Big-eyed Male Bombus nevadensis from Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Lots of mixups in databases because its old subspecies. B. n. auricomus was raised to species status, but that memo has not gotten out to all the database people. Databases seem so simple, if only taxonomists wouldn't change the names all the time.! Photo by Anders Croft.

If you were in the Badlands of South Dakota in the Summer, and were paying attention to your bumblebees, you would see this one. Bombus nevadensis. It is big and the queens are extra beefy. This is one of the dark bumbles. More black on the sides of the body and tinted wings.

What a lovely face. This bumblebee species has almost entirely disappeared from its West Coast range due to a recent epidemic sweeping through some bumblebee populations.