Images

A couple more shots of the mysterious female masked bee Hylaeus sparsus. These collected by Jessica Rykken in Shenandoah National Park. Rarely collected by found across hundreds of miles of North America. Makes you wonder what we are missing, my guess is we are missing a lot because no body is actually looking.

Experimental Shot: Daisyfleabane dipped in Butterfly scales

Older and no so great shots (technically speaking) of Florilegus condignus. You can see tons of butterfly scales on this specimen from who knows what species were caught with it at the same time. You will find that Florilegus only collects pollen from pickerelweed (Pontedaria).

null

Fluorite crystal. An experimental shot from some material given to me by the Geology Division at USGS. Realizing that I need to wash these specimens before taking their pictures! Right now just playing around with light set ups and photoshopping...comments welcome. Photograph by Brooke Alexender.

A Syrphid fly in the genus Microdon. A lovely bee mimic and one that I had not seen before. Critters in the Genus Microdon complete their larval life cycle inside ant nests.

Unknown species of fly found in Upper Marlboro, Maryland

More play with 10X. Here is a small non-muscid fly from my backyard. Tongue architecture is very interesting and lovely in a fly sort of way.

null

Lace bug, how exquisite, the patterns and colors of the cells of this tiny bug. The one found on Horsenettle by Ashley Bradford on the Pickering Creek Audubon Sanctuary BioBlitz.

More experiments with USGS minerals. This one is a shot of very tiny 1mm or so garnets crazy glued to an insect pin. Not bad for a first try, but clearly more cleaning is needed to really make these shine. 10x shot with microscope objective on camera.

Nectar dries quickly in the Atacama Desert of Chile, the driest desert in the world, and so many plants hide their nectar in deep nectaries. Bees visiting these flowers need long tongues and, in some instances, a very long head to reach the nectar.

Quiscalus quiscula - The Common Grackle. A hefty gracklesk foot befitting the beast. Photography Information: 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.

Usure of which Green Lacewing species this is, it is also a bit discolored (the yellow areas should be green) in death, the eye alone adds appeal to this delicate species.Captured at my moth light in Upper Marlboro, MDCanon 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 Sp

Gynandromorph, bilaterally half male/ half female, very rare, the left hand side of this he-she is male (13 antennal segments / lacking pollen carrying hairs on the legs) and the right it female with 12 antennal segments and pollen carrying scopa on the hind legs. The differences are most obvious on the face shot and the underside shot.

Habropoda excellens, Three spotted Digger Bee, specimen collected by K. Moredock in Utah, USADigger Bees in the genus Habropoda occur around the world across middle northern latitudes and are usually plant specialists, collecting pollen from only a small number of all the plant species that might be available.

Habropoda excellens, Three spotted Digger Bee, specimen collected by K. Moredock in Utah, USADigger Bees in the genus Habropoda occur around the world across middle northern latitudes and are usually plant specialists, collecting pollen from only a small number of all the plant species that might be available.

Habropoda laboriosa, female, Maryland Kent County Spring 2012. Blueberry specialist.

null

Halictus brunnescens: probably the largest species of Halictus in the Mediterranean region of Europe, together with its sibling species Halictus quadricinctus. They are usually found on large purple thistles. In early summer you can see the females digging themselves into the flower to reach the nectar. Picture taken by Sara Guerriera.

Hoplisoides xerophilus, Cuba, GTMO Naval Base