Images

More from last year's expedition to Chile with Laurence Packer. Such a lovely country...we camped in a new place every day. Ping ponging from the Andes to the Coast sleeping along the road or in open pastures. Lovely people, easy travel, no problems with law enforcement people. This is a Caenohalictus species of some kind.

This bumblebee species has almost entirely disappeared from its West Coast range due to a recent epidemic sweeping through some bumblebee populations. However, the Rocky Mountain populations still persist and there is hope that the West Coast population will also recover and resume its place as one of the most common bumblebee species in the West.

Ah, the lovely yellow of Bombus perplexus. For some reason this species' coloration tends towards bright yellow while other eastern bumbles are more subdued in their yellowness. It varies with their age (the sun fade bumbles plumage) but a nice lemon yellow usually means this species.

Sections of a male Bombus perplexus, illustrating the hair and shape patterns. A regular, but somewhat uncommon bumble bee, that is noted for the more extensive yellow hairs on the thorax and abdomen than most bumble bee species. Photographs by Greta Forbes.

More Bombus perplexus shots, in this case...males. You can tell they are males because they have 13 rather than 12 antennal segments and the hind legs lack the pollen carrying corbicula (bare area) on the tibia. Lemon yellow though! Specimens from Central Pennyslvania from Laura Russo's study there. Photographs by Kelly Graninger.

This is the main orange butted Bumblebee of the East. Bombus ternarius. It can be very common in places like the Adirondacks where this one was collected, but occurs throughout a wide range of the Upper Midwest to New England and throughout southern Quebec and Ontario in our gardens and fields.

An uncommon species and one that had under gone some recent declines, Bombus terricola has seen increases recently in at least parts of its range.

Bombus vagans. One of a set of Bumble bee tricksters for those who have to identify them. Very similar to B. sandersoni, and B. perplexus. Each with enough variations in their abdominal plumage to sometimes cause some specimens to go unidentified. Here is a male,.... first 2 tergites with yellow remainder black.

There are about 50 species of bumble bees north of Mexico. Here is a common northern species that creeps down the mountains to the Appalachians. It also appears to be retracting its southern range edge...perhaps due to global warming or who knows? Still common in the north, but something to keep track of.

This bee is in your garden! Have you seen it? Collected on the Tomatoes in Francisco Posada's in Laurel, Maryland

The smooth tones of an unexpected composite, Baccharis halimifolia. Photo taken by Helen Lowe Metzman in Howard County, Maryland. 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.

The smooth tones of an unexpected composite, Baccharis halimifolia. Photo taken by Helen Lowe Metzman in Howard County, Maryland. 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.

Persimmon Psyllid, Baeoalitriozus diospyri, collected on persimmon yesterday by Brad Seay in Davidsonville Maryland. Adult and eggs.

3X close-up of the homemade paper that made up the outside of a Bald-faced Hornet Nest here in Beltsville. I discovered the nest after getting stung when out trail running in the woods and went back to find that it was built on the ground in short vegetation. A few days later it was destroyed. Note the different colored fibers from different fiber sources.

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

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.

More from last year's expedition to Chile with Laurence Packer. Such a lovely country...we camped in a new place every day. Ping ponging from the Andes to the Coast sleeping along the road or in open pastures. Lovely people, easy travel, no problems with law enforcement people. This is a Caenohalictus species of some kind.

One of the most common bees in Eastern North America, particularly in urban and disturbed environments. They are attracted to piles of dirt or open scraped soils and appear to be a huge fan of clovers, plants that also favor lawns and open disturbed sites.

A composite specialist. This is a small species that inhabits the central plains of the continent; leaking a bit east and west. Collected in Badlands of South Dakota. Photo by Kelly Graninger.

Adding another shot of Calliopsis edwardsii to the collection...from Yosemite National Park.

A little, somewhat flattened bee, from the mountains of Yosemite National Park. Members of this group are often very discriminating in their tastes for pollen. Feeding their young pollen often from a single genus of plants. Picky eaters I suppose. Part of a study by Claire Kremen in the high conifer regions of the Park. Photo by Anders Croft. P.S.