Images

A nest parasite...an invader of other bees nest's ... eggs are laid and the host's young killed and food eaten. In this case the host if Colletes latitarsis. This rather beat up specimen comes from Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge....paid for with lots of donations to the mosquito population on the refuge. Photography by Ashleigh Jacobs.

Collected in South Dakota in Badlands National Park, this tiny nest parasite of Colletes is the first record for the state. Amber Reese took the pictureCanon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

A small heath, the trailing arbutus. Often thought to be rare, but more often than not simply overlooked. Attracts pollinators like the rest of the grouip. Epigaea repens. Specimen and photo by Helen Lowe Metzman.

I believe that this specimen came from Kenya, but I could be wrong about that, will have to check with Laurence Packer and look up the barcode number. Note the cool oil collecting hairs present under the abdomen.

Tenebrionidae, found at night chewing on a small patch of shelf fungi on a stump in Upper Marlboro, Maryland

Dasymutilla gloriosa. Thistledown Velvet Ant. Elizabeth Garcia who took this picture claimed this one creeped her out. ... and she sees a lot of wasps and bees. Not an ant, but a wasp. This it the wingeless female collected by Tim McMahon in Cochise County in Arizona. Desert.

Dasypoda plumipes, Hairy-footed Hairy-legged Bee, collected in the United Kingdom.The common name of this species is an accurate description of the bushy pollen carrying hind legs of the female (male bees do not transport pollen back to a nest).

Dasypoda plumipes, Hairy-footed Hairy-legged Bee, collected in the United Kingdom.The common name of this species is an accurate description of the bushy pollen carrying hind legs of the female (male bees do not transport pollen back to a nest).

Yet another deer fly that tried to bite me while running...note the lovely dark integument or skin on this one

Yet another deer fly that tried to bite me while running...note the lovely dark integument or skin on this one nicely contrasting its lovely purple flickr eyes

Biscayne National Park, Euglossa dilemma, male 2011

Euryglossidia species, Pinnochio Euryglossidia, collected in Australia by Laurence PackerThis undescribed species was collected in Western Australia after particularly good winter rains. It has an unusually pointed "nose". No reason for this unusual modification is known.

Euryglossina leyburnensis, Cylidrical Perplexing Bee, collected in AustraliaDoes this look like a bee? Not really, and indeed the Cylindrical Perplexing Bee has fooled many a melittologist (the self-proclaimed name for those of us who instead of becoming plumbers or presidents took up the study of bees). Why does it look so different?

Dominican Republic

Exomalopsis similis, female, CUBA, GTMO, 2011, June

Exoneura species, Two-tone Reed Bee, specimen collected in AustraliaLong: Reed Bees are found only on the continent of Australia and it is likely that most of the 41 species nest in the pithy centers of plant stems, similar to the Small Carpenter Bees (Ceratina).

Exoneura species, Two-tone Reed Bee, specimen collected in AustraliaLong: Reed Bees are found only on the continent of Australia and it is likely that most of the 41 species nest in the pithy centers of plant stems, similar to the Small Carpenter Bees (Ceratina).

Counting-out RhymeSilver bark of beech, and sallowBark of yellow birch and yellowTwig of willow.Stripe of green in moosewood maple,Color seen in leaf of apple,Bark of popple.Wood of popple pale as moonbeam,Wood of oak for yoke and barn-beam,Wood of hornbeam.Silver bark of beech, and hollowStem of elder, tall and yellowTwig of willow.- Edna St.Vincent Millay

Spodoptera frugiperda - Fall Armyworm, another defoliating moth species, slightly different from the previous series on the Southern Armyworm.

Dead Field Sparrow, Spizella pusilla, that sadly ran into the windows of a building in Washington D.C. while migrating.

A large Hoplitis from the West Coast. Specifically from Yosemite National Park. Am still mystified by this genus, they are always around in small numbers, but never seem to be a "player" like some of the other genera, if you know what I mean. The specimens were collected for a project done by Lauren Ponisio - Study led by L.