Images

Here is a 2 picture series of persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) flowers. Some trees are male (staminate) and some are female (pistilate). The easy to come by literature of the web searchers says they are pollinated by insects and the wind. I have never collected off them (too high up and am guessing not super attractive to bees).

The male flowers of the local persimmon tree (Diospyros virginiana). This does not seem to be much of a bee tree in terms of pollen and nectar use by bees, given that male and female trees are separate, there must be wind or other transport for pollination. Specimen and pictures by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Condylostylus near caudatus, Long-legged fly, Dolichopodid, shot suspended in hand sanitizer, Maryland, Price George's County, Sciapodinae? Det provided by Flickr user Vox Sciurorum.

Ophiogomphus susbehcha, collected by Richard Orr along the Potomac River, super rare snaketail species

Drepanaporus collaris, Dominican Republic, La Vega, determination by Pompilid guru Juanita Rodriguez

Drepanaporus collaris, Dominican Republic, La Vega, determination by Pompilid guru Juanita Rodriguez

I stopped by a pullout in the sandhills of Nebraska on my way to the Badlands one year and just did some collecting off the sweet clover and other mostly weedy plants that lined the dirt parking area and along the nearby rail road tracks....fantastically abundant with bees. This was one of them the relatively common Colletes robertsonii. Photo by Erick Hernandez.

A little series of pictures of Colletes robertsonii from the Sandhills of Nebraska...Hooker county. A Midwestern species, this male and female were found in a nice patch of flowers along the road in a small pull off. Lovely country...the Sandhills. Photos by Erick Hernandez.

Not a great specimen, but then again, the species is one we have seen only a few times... you get what you can take. As the name implies there MIGHT be a relationship between this species and golden rod. Is that true? Someone needs to look at little more deeply and perhaps look at the pollen on the bodies of these bees to make such declarations.

Rarity here. This is species was described in the 1950s, named after the town it was collected near and only a handful of specimens have ever been collected that I am aware of. In fact it is so rare that it was on our list of "missing" species, published in 2011.

A blueberry specialist. Look how long that face is...The space between the mandible and the eye is what bee heads often use to separate species. This Colletes validus has a huggggggeeee malar space...other Colletes species essentially have none, the mandible being directly at the base of the eye. Why?

Look at the veryyyyyyy long distance from the bottom of the compound eye to the mandible base (technically this is called the malar space). Few bees show this long a head and it is nearly distinctive within Colletes at least in the north. This is a species that likes to hang out around blueberries and other Vaccinium type things.

Bedraggled Bee. We picture here Colletes willistoni, with mussy hair, something Colletes is prone to. For me this is mostly irritating, in that they don't clean up well for their pictures, for the bees, well, its hard to say, they are an old lineage and apparently great looking hair under all conditions was not their evolutionary priority.

Female Colletes compactus

South Carolina

Isle Royale, Michigan

Isle Royale, Michigan

Isle Royale, Michigan

Isle Royale, Michigan

Eastern Hercules Beetle, Female, Old, Found on the Ground, Scarred, Dirty, Ancient, Maryland, Dynastes tityus, Grubs live in rotten logs, HUGE. Found by Jessica Zelt while going on a walk. Pictures by Amanda Robinson.

Dominican Republic - Common on flowers November 2012 -Dysdercus ocreatus; identified by Tom Henry, many thanks