Images

Another small Ashmeadiella species (A. aridula) again from Claire Kremen's studies. This one's distributions fills the western states but does not leak into Canada and Mexico. I am sure there are stories to tell here, but I basically know that they are small and nest in holes in wood...often using rosin. Photos by Erick Hernandez.

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.

Bombus affinis, 2018, Tucker County, West Virginia. An Endangered Species. This male was found by Justin DeVault from AllStar Ecology, who with other folks at AllStar, on their own time and dollar, have been surveying bumble bees in the state. Good people, good model, too rarely done, why aren't you doing this? I digress.

Bombus affinis, 2018, Tucker County, West Virginia. An Endangered Species. This male was found by Justin DeVault from AllStar Ecology, who with other folks at AllStar, on their own time and dollar, have been surveying bumble bees in the state. Good people, good model, too rarely done, why aren't you doing this? I digress.

More shots of a queen Bombus affinis...the newly minted endangered Bumble Bee. This specimen is from the National Collection at the Smithsonian and was collected in Racine, Wisconsin in 1965 when times were easy for this species. Collected by L.W.

Bombus ashtoni! This is news. This species of bumble bee is nest parasite. They take over the nests of other bumble bees and use the host's workers to produce their progeny. This one is special because its known hosts are B. affinis (the endangered Rusty-patched Bumble Bee) and B.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, collected at Morris Arboretum by Stephanie Wilson

There are a lot of bumble bee species out there, about 50 species or so north of Mexico. Some arguments regarding species boundaries, but, bottomline is there are more than most people would suppose. Here is Bombus bifarius. Another common western bee, one a bit more likely to nest above ground than some of the others....sometimes even showing up in bird houses.

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.

Check the eyes out on this male Bumble Bee. We already put up a spread of female B. fraternus, but the male has some pretty unique features for bumble bees. For one, the eyes are HUGE, they nearly meet at the top of the head. Only a few other bumbles do that...and the face is extremely short, with the mandibles almost joined to the bottom of the eyes.

This is one of the species that seems to be holding its own in terms of numbers. This worker has a corbicula on its tibia full of a mix of pollen and nectar

Bumblebees are so charismatic. Here is a queen form downtown Washington D.C. very near the mall. 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,