Images

Glossy capped just emerged lava lampish sporangia of a Hemitrichia Red Slime mold of some sort. Note how some are conjoined and at this stage they have nifty transluscent stalks. Found during the Adirondack BioBlitz by the fungal hunting Susan Hopkins. Photo by the Dejen Mengis.

One of the first woodland plants flowering in the spring....am looking forward to the plants waking up this year and the cycle starting anew. Specimen and photography by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Many of the bees of the world are small, here is yet another one, Heriades carinata. This species nests in tiny little holes, often those made by wood boring/powder post beetles. It carries its pollen underneath its abdomen and is long and slim, so that it can inhabit these tiny holes to lay a series of eggs in a series of cells filled with pollen and nectar.

Many of the bees of the world are small, here is yet another one, Heriades carinata. This species nests in tiny little holes, often those made by wood boring/powder post beetles. It carries its pollen underneath its abdomen and is long and slim, so that it can inhabit these tiny holes to lay a series of eggs in a series of cells filled with pollen and nectar.

A small hole nesting bee related to Osmia, beatifully arrayed in dark black pitting and short, prone, white bands of hair. Found at Wolf Trap National Park for the Perfoming Arts in Virginia

A small thin well armored bee. Just so to fit in the abandoned burrows of powder post beetles and the like. Obliquely related to Mason bees, the females carry pollen and are notable for their use of plant resins to plug their nest holes. This one from Prince George's County. Photograph by Elizabeth Garcia.

A small thin well armored bee. Just so to fit in the abandoned burrows of powder post beetles and the like. Obliquely related to Mason bees, the females carry pollen and are notable for their use of plant resins to plug their nest holes. This one from Prince George's County. Photograph by Elizabeth Garcia.

A tiny bee, this one found in the flat marshy landscape of Dorchester County, Maryland. There is a pair of the species Heriades leavitti and Heriades variolosa both appear to be impossible to tell apart in the female form, but in the male form there are clear differences underneath the abdomen.

A small bee very heavily armored, that nests in small wood boring beetle holes. The specimen came from Kent County Maryland and was photographed by Brooke Alexander and Photoshop by Elizabeth Garcia.

Heriades variolosa/leavittii, male

New state record, collected by Jelle Devalez in a sand pit in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Nearest other record is in Illinois!

New state record, collected by Jelle Devalez in a sand pit in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Nearest other record is in Illinois!

New state record, collected by Jelle Devalez in a sand pit in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Nearest other record is in Illinois!

Random Homopteran. Prpobably taken with out 10x modified lens. No notes, darn it.

A honey bee, lovely in all its commonness. Collected near the Mall in Washington D.C. 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,

DRONE! Apis mellifera male plundered from Dennis vanEngelsdorp's Lab. Washed and blown dried, buff. Photo by Sue Boo, interlab spy. 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.

DRONE! Apis mellifera male plundered from Dennis vanEngelsdorp's Lab. Washed and blown dried, buff. Photo by Sue Boo, interlab spy. 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.

Hoplisoides xerophilus, Cuba, GTMO Naval Base

Dark Bee. Some bees are all black, black hairs, black integument (skin), little reflection. This makes for somewhat eerie photography, a gothic presentation of a species that does not care what we think. Northern and mountain in distribution across both sides of the continent. This one from way up in Yosemite National Park in California.

Dark Bee. Some bees are all black, black hairs, black integument (skin), little reflection. This makes for somewhat eerie photography, a gothic presentation of a species that does not care what we think. Northern and mountain in distribution across both sides of the continent. This one from way up in Yosemite National Park in California.

Dark Bee. Some bees are all black, black hairs, black integument (skin), little reflection. This makes for somewhat eerie photography, a gothic presentation of a species that does not care what we think. Northern and mountain in distribution across both sides of the continent. This one from way up in Yosemite National Park in California.