Images

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.

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.

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.

Paraguay! Cactus! This species and its kin feed their young Cactus pollen. One of many species which are pollen specialists in the world. Much to discover and explore in the part of the world, particularly the Chaco region.

Paraguay! Cactus! This species and its kin feed their young Cactus pollen. One of many species which are pollen specialists in the world. Much to discover and explore in the part of the world, particularly the Chaco region.

Paraguay! Cactus! This species and its kin feed their young Cactus pollen. One of many species which are pollen specialists in the world. Much to discover and explore in the part of the world, particularly the Chaco region.

Black Chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa. Consider the chokeberry....native and super full of antioxidants, also super attractive to native bees. Why don't you have any in your yard? Specimen and photo by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Oak Timberworm, Arrhenodes minutus, and an interesting mite on its mid femur, found at my moth light...likely attracted to the area due to the fresh red oak I am adding to the wood pile. Note the odd mite appears to be glued to the femur, it was still alive when the picture was taken, but apparently could not leave its host.

Common Milkweed - The primary foodplant in most of the range of the loved-by-all Monarch Butterfly . Also a weed, if you are a wheat farmer, and also something much less common in agricultural landscapes where they dominated in the past. Why? Because we figured out how to create food plants that cannot be killed by herbicides.

Orange in Saturation. No need for Photoshop filters here. This is the orange orange of butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa, a magnet for bees and butterflies, but provider only of nectar. Its visitors transfer butterfly weed pollen in sacs that get clipped onto the legs of big visitors when their foot slips into the florets.

Laphria thoracica, a Robber fly that mimics bees. The sit around waiting for a passing fly, attach, and then suck it dry. You should appreciate the fact that this species is measured in mm, captured by Tim McMahon and photographed by Wayne Boo

This is picture 4 from a 12 picture invited series by Matt Buffington (matt.buffington@usda.gov) at the USDA Parastitic Hymentoptera group using specimens from the U.S. Natural History Museum Smithsonian.

A widespread western hemisphere group, this is one of many bright green Augochlora species (others can range in the black to purple/blue spectrums), this one is special because it occurs only on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, where it was collected by Sara Prado in agricultural fields...a local pollinator.

The lovely drinkeyeball Augochlora pura...one of the most common bees of forests and forest edges, here with its tongue partially extended just to remind us how different bees are from mammals, remarkable really.

We go, once again, to one of my favorite parts of the world, the Badlands of South Dakota. Among several types of Anthophora exists a nicely woke-up white banded species called Anthophora walshii. This species has an interesting distribution, it is almost entirely found in the prairies bumping up to the western mountain ranges.

We go, once again, to one of my favorite parts of the world, the Badlands of South Dakota. Among several types of Anthophora exists a nicely woke-up white banded species called Anthophora walshii. This species has an interesting distribution, it is almost entirely found in the prairies bumping up to the western mountain ranges.

Anthophora abrupta, female, May, 2012, Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge

Well, not so great looking a bee specimen, so it goes sometimes when doing bee surveys where thousands of specimens are processed quickly under less than ideal conditions. However, there is a nice little story here. This bee was found by the National Park Service survey team George Washington's Home in Virginia.

The lovely groundnut, Apios americana. Has both edible beans and edible tubers and attempts have been made to create cultivars, but sadly this has not caught on despite some pretty awesome healthful characteristics. Look up the wikipedia writeup pilgrim. Photographed and collected by Helen Lowe Metzman in Howard County, Maryland.

Honey bee Head, Apis mellifera,Beltsville Maryland, oblique shot

The Drone or male of the honeybee. Note the eyes, they actually meet on top of the head. It lives only do mate with a virgin queen and the expanded compount eyes help. Note the weak reflection of the female's heavily modified hind tibia, still expanded, but not really functionally, probably a molecularly cheap byproduct of being haploid.