Images

Female Ceratina strenua

This lovely purple blue Chrysidid wasp was found be Gene Scarpulla on the dredge spoil augmented Hart-Miller Island in the Chesapeake Bay. It is interesting to ponder whey these nest parasites are inevitably a bright metallic color and not something seemingly more cryptic (cryptic to an insect and cryptic to a mammal are likely two different things).

This lovely purple blue Chrysidid wasp was found be Gene Scarpulla on the dredge spoil augmented Hart-Miller Island in the Chesapeake Bay. It is interesting to ponder whey these nest parasites are inevitably a bright metallic color and not something seemingly more cryptic (cryptic to an insect and cryptic to a mammal are likely two different things).

Cuba, GTMO, Guantanamo Bay

Ah....the redbud a lovely native leguminous north american small tree. Widely planted, awesome pollinator pollen and nectar food source...and...very interestingly, it has clear seed pods until mid summer which allows investigators to look at rates of pollination....could be used as a sentinel and a great citizen science project.

Just one of many kinds of bees for which we know little to nothing. Beautiful wings though! This specimen comes from Brazil and was found in Laurence Packer's lab 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.

Chamaesyce maculata, Spotted Spurge, August 2012, Beltsville, Maryland

Wayyyyyy up in the Andes spitting distance from Argentina, this wee Callonychium chilense was collected on an expedition with Laurence Packer to southern Chile. One of those one way dirt roads that hugs the mountains and gives one opportunity to fall into the valley in a truly spectacular way. Memorable.

Southern South America is where you will find this as yet another group of relatively little studied bees. This one collected in Peru by the Packer lab and has some nice Wing Interference Pop.

Dominican Republic

Cardamine hirsuta, Beltsville, Maryland

Hold Poo Over its Body - Yep, this is Cassida rubiginosa the Thistle Tortoise Beetle brought over here to fight the Canada Thistle, which is not actually from Canada, but just another example of how we try to bring Canada down by associating it with Alien Pests.

A Western Hemisphere group, with a good number of species. These are very fast fliers and, at least the North American species tend to be crepuscular and plant specialists, often associated with sandy/dune areas.

A Western Hemisphere group, with a good number of species. These are very fast fliers and, at least the North American species tend to be crepuscular and plant specialists, often associated with sandy/dune areas.

Georgia, 2011, Rare Morning Glory Specialist

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More experiments. This is a small centipede found under a board in my yard in Upper Marlboro, MD. It is possibly and immature, but am unsure of how to tell. Taken at 10x with our new lens sytem while floating in a cuvette filled with hand sanitizer.

Puerto Rico! What a snappy looking bee with its orange, yellow, and glinting blue patterns interspersed with the standard blacks and whites of most bees. How lovely to that this is a bee found in agricultural areas...a sort of Bumble Bee replacement in a land where Bumble Bees don't exist. Collected by Sara Prado in her investigations of agriculture and bees.

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.

Bombus terrestris - A domesticated bee. Widely used in agriculture in green house pollination as well as in the field. Also one that has been introduced into several parts of the world... Causing major problems in South America where some combination of competition and disease harms the native bumble bees.

Bombus terrestris - A domesticated bee. Widely used in agriculture in green house pollination as well as in the field. Also one that has been introduced into several parts of the world... Causing major problems in South America where some combination of competition and disease harms the native bumble bees.