Images

Bee of Yosemite. This is Bombus bifarius, a male (see all the yellow on the face shot? that is a good indication of a male bumble bee....not all species show this pattern, but it is a general trend. Females tend to have a nearly all black face with perhaps a topknot of yellow hairs, but I digress).

Bee of Yosemite. This is Bombus bifarius, a male (see all the yellow on the face shot? that is a good indication of a male bumble bee....not all species show this pattern, but it is a general trend. Females tend to have a nearly all black face with perhaps a topknot of yellow hairs, but I digress).

The head of Bombus bimaculatus, our earliest spring bumblebee, unlike some of the other species it is still very common in most parts of the eastern United States and by late June/July you can see that the nests are producing males and beginning to wind down the season for the species. This one was collected by Laura Russo somewhere near State College Pennsylvania.

A western bumble bee. Bombus californicus is a reasonably uncommon dark-winged Bumble bee that ranges from the Rockies to the West and whose populations may have been knocked back by the same pathogen suite as the gone or nearly gone species such as B. affinis and B. franklini.

Power...This is Bombus citrinus, a female just emerged from where she hibernated overwinter and looking for the new nests of a queen bumblebee, note the sting on the prominent tail end of this bee, she uses that to eliminate or paralyze the female of another bumblebee, taking over the nest and essentially enslaving the daughters of the queen to now raise her young.

The odd case of Bombus citrinus. This species is a nest parasite on other Bumble Bees and as is the case in many, if perhaps not all, the parasitic species it has an unusually long top of the head...in other words the distance from the ocelli to the back of the head is longer than in other species.

A parasite of other bumblebeeds, B. citrinus, is the most common parasitic species in the East, but, as a parasite this still means it is very uncommon. The tale is simple, this species invades a nest, eliminates queen, and makes workers raise its own young.

Parasite. Nest parasite to be exact. Formerly in the genus Psithyrus these bees are now in the genus Bombus, with the rest of the bumble bees.

Parasite. Nest parasite to be exact. Formerly in the genus Psithyrus these bees are now in the genus Bombus, with the rest of the bumble bees.

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.

Perhaps it is too late at night or that I am listening to Enyaesque music and nibbling on pure cacao, but I am transfixed by this particular bee and shot, it just calls up something ancient, something that really brings home the fact that our evolutionary paths separated long ago.

Calliopsis. Another of the many kinds of small bees that run the world. This is one was collected in Arizona by Tim McMahon or Don Harvey in fabulous Cochise County.

A tiny Australian. One associated with the many members of plants in the myrtle family on that continent.

A tiny Australian. One associated with the many members of plants in the myrtle family on that continent.

Fiery Searcher. Calosoma scrutator hunts caterpillars, is big, fast, and spectacular. Just exactly why it is spectacular is clear, when attached it exudes odor heavy on the bad smells and who would want to eat that. So, if you like to dress up in iridescence of any kinds, then just be sure to bring along some repellent to keep the predators at bay.

Camponotus chromaiodes (thanks James Trager for the determination) Chino Farms, Maryland

Campylenchia latipes - Widefooted Treehopper or Eastern Thornhopper, found in the woods edge in Upper Marlboro, MD., Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Photographer: Sam Droege, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200