Images

A very very variable in color (polymorphic) species in the stinkbug family from South America. I have a couple of other examples, but there seems to be no limit to the color variations this species has. How lovely and mysterious. Not sure what the research is on this thing, but it must be an interesting story.

A fluorescent green Stratiomyid from the edges of the salt marshes of Somerset County in Maryland. One product of the Monie Bay BioBlitz a few days ago. So very green.

One of the southern Svastra species. Big Bee, uncommon and probably restricted to areas of relatively intact native flora, which are getting to be harder and harder to find.

One of the southern Svastra species. Big Bee, uncommon and probably restricted to areas of relatively intact native flora, which are getting to be harder and harder to find.

Another southern Svastra species, a relatively uncommon species, but on that regularly shows up in healthy, plant rich regions. As with most of the Svastra species, not much is known about its predilections...but likely it is using large late summer composites of some sort. A fair amount of goo on this girl, lots of photoshopping out of dirt.

Another southern Svastra species, a relatively uncommon species, but on that regularly shows up in healthy, plant rich regions. As with most of the Svastra species, not much is known about its predilections...but likely it is using large late summer composites of some sort. A fair amount of goo on this girl, lots of photoshopping out of dirt.

Another southern Svastra species, a relatively uncommon species, but on that regularly shows up in healthy, plant rich regions. As with most of the Svastra species, not much is known about its predilections...but likely it is using large late summer composites of some sort. A fair amount of goo on this girl, lots of photoshopping out of dirt.

Another Heather Campbell collected bee from the Sandhills, this one a nest parasite, likely on something in the genus Lasioglossum, a very small bee...Check out the WIPs in the wing (Wing Interference Patterns) quite lovely ....

More Sphecodes from the Adirondack Mountains of New York. There are many species of Sphecodes. They look remarkably the same. Females, like this one, inevitably have red butts and the rest about small sculptural differences.

An unknown species of Sphecodes collected by Tim McMahon in Cecil County. Interesting to ask why Sphecodes often have bring red abdomens when bees theoretically can't see red. Photographed by Brooke Alexander

An odd story of invasion. This is a Sphecodes, we have posted a series of them recently on Flickr. They are nest parasites. They gather no pollen themselves. There are many species...the odd thing is that I found this on Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. The only native bees on the island (discounting some maybe native bees) are masked bee from the genus Hylaeus.

Sphecodes tainoi captured in agriculture areas of Puerto Rico by Sara Prado. This is a new island record, previously there were no known records for Sphecodes for the island.Notice the lovely WIPs (Wing Interference Patterns)

Tiny Oxyopes spider (thanks Bob Kallal for id) only resolvable using a 10x microscope objective attached to a 200mm lens....so much going on amidst those blades of long grass in the tiny pastures we allow to grow, where complicated comings and goings occur in such grand webs of complexity that mowing becomes not just conformity...but slaughter.

Tiny 3mm Spider, caught 10/9/2012, placed in hand sanitizer in a cuvette. Note cloud of hairs, might have to drag the specimen to a new location in HS to remove? Replaced the white paper under the specimen with Black and that decreased the highlight burnout on the lightcolored legs.

Beautiful, but scary. This is the Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula). An impressive 2 inch exotic Fulgorid type thing from China and Southeast asia, it is a bark sucker and can do tremendous damage to smooth barked woody plants.

Need an ID Beetle Heads...This is a lovely tortoise beetle that Ashley Bradford showed me at Pickering Creek Audubon Sanctuary BioBlitz where all the it nature heads gathered to talk about how the natural world was going to hell, except for places like Pickering Creek. Plagiometriona clavata from Ash...

Here you go. A member of a small group of bees that live on the U.S./Mexico border. They have been there for years, moving back and forth parasitizing Hersperapis and Conanthalictus bees in the area. Small things, usually with reddish backends. Collected by Tim McMahon or Don Harvey on one of their expeditions to Arizona.

Trachelipus rathkii, sowbug, woodlice, Beltsville, Maryland, taken in a cuvette filled with hand sanitizer

This is one special bee. We did a paper a few years ago and went through the 800 or so bees found east of the Mississippi River and looked for those that had not been found in the last 20 years. This was one of them! So Sabrie Breland collected this special bee in South Georgia near the border with Florida.

This is one special bee. We did a paper a few years ago and went through the 800 or so bees found east of the Mississippi River and looked for those that had not been found in the last 20 years. This was one of them! So Sabrie Breland collected this special bee in South Georgia near the border with Florida.

If you find a Trachusa in the East, and probably if you find it anywhere, you are a good keeper of the land. These species and T. ridingsii in particular have just disappeared from much of our landscape. Unlike many other bees they don't integrate well with urban, suburban, agricultural interfaces as currently wrought.