Images

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.

Amegilla of some kind from India...an A bumblebee mimic. A beautifully formatted bee, no matter what, who could come up with all these bee designs! 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.

Amegilla of some kind from India...an A bumblebee mimic. A beautifully formatted bee, no matter what, who could come up with all these bee designs! 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.

Temnosoma, Unknown Metallic Cuckoo Bee, collected in Argentina.A metallic green bee similar to many metallic green bees in the Sweat Bee family Halictiadae, but if you were to look at one under the microscope you would find that the female has no pollen collecting hairs and thus would probably conclude that it is a bee but one that does not collect pollen and theref

Eucerinoda gayi, Gay 's EucerineClaude Gay was a French entomologist who in the early 1800 's traveled to Chile to teach. However natural history was his passion and he spent most of his time in the country studying the plants, animals, and geology.

Female Caenonomada - Argentina....from the Laurence Packer lab....a bee that replaces at least some of the pollen/nectar component with plant oils oils. 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.

Osiris, Atlatl Godbee, Collected in ColombiaThe ancient Egyptian God Osiris was associated with both the afterlife and a greenish skin, and at least indirectly with Honey Bees.

Mydrosoma serratum, Serrated Evening Bee, collected in Mexico by Sheila Dumesh 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.

Ancyla asiatica, Asiatic Enigma Bee collected in Turkey Nine species of Enigma Bees occur from the Western portion of the Mediterranean to Central Asia. They are called Enigma bees because it has been so difficult to decide which other bees they are closely related to. The reason for this confusion lies in their tongues.

Pachyanthidium species, Sawtooth Sputnik Bee, collected in KenyaAnother striking Sputnik Bee from Africa. This group of bees, and the Anthidiini tribe it nestles in taxonomically, are almost all characteristically striped and spotted with bright yellow, white, and red colors on a wide body, usually also with serious amounts of pitting cratering their exoskeleton.

Bees Learn to Drive Very Small Cars.Scientists capitalized on recent revelations that bees are a lot smarter than previously thought. In addition to being able to count and solve simple puzzles USGS scientists at the Patuxent Native Bee Lab have taught bees to driver miniaturized automobiles.

Unknown Cerambycid beetle, from Laurel Maryland collected in June by Francisco Posada

You probably have this problem. You get a specimen in, but it covered in gunk and its hairs are all matted. What do you do? Well, I think we have finally figured it out. Here is a specimen of Bombus rufocinctus caught by the state of Pennsylvania in some kind of dry trap, covered in moth scales and gook. Then, it gets a new look at the USGS BEEauty salon.

Here is a lovely black and red seed. Photographed on the cut tip of a pin. Sadly, I do not have a record of the seed's name, so any help with this distinct specimen would be appreciated. This seed came from a 100 year old collection of seeds used as reference by the old Bureau of Biological Survey.

Agrotis ipsilon - Black Cutworm - Another major crop pest. This species moves into northern parts of North America after overwintering in Texas and Mexico and then pulls off a couple of generations in weedy fields and particularly impacting newly planted corn. Yet another pest that looks rather beautiful when viewed up close.

Compact small bee want to meet compact small flowers. Anthophora flexipes is definitely cute, though, of course, we can let that shade its importance as a pollinator in the high lands of Yosemite National Park.

The male of a relatively new introduced species from Japan. Likes to nest in adobe walls of buildings and underneath decks. Photoshopping by Thistle Droege and Photography by Brooke Alexander.

OK, maybe not the best picture, but this is Anthophora terminalis. The females, as you see here, have a red tip to the abdomen (technically: the bee's butt). Small than other Anthophora (at least in the Eastern U.S.) and different in that they do not nest in dirt banks or the ground like their big cousins, but in plant stems.

Anthophora terminalis, collected in Morris Arboretum by Stephanie Wilson and photoshopped by Ann Simpkins

Anthophora terminalis, collected in Morris Arboretum by Stephanie Wilson and photoshopped by Ann Simpkins

Anthophora terminalis, collected in Morris Arboretum by Stephanie Wilson and photoshopped by Ann Simpkins