Images

Still Here. I think this is big news and a big deal. T'ai Roulston and his identification triggerman Skyler Burrows stopped by the lab this week to work on some tricky bee ids and brought this Bombus affinis in from Sky Meadows State Park at the edge of the Blue Ridge in N. Virginia to have its picture taken.

The Endangered Bumble Bee. Bombus affinis. The Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee. Here is a a male from Racine Wisconsin collected years ago when this species was one of the most common species. The collector was W.L. Macior and his specimens live in the National Collection at the Smithsonian.

Now, here is Augochloropsis metallica metallica. See the previous post about A. m. fulgida for contrast. Note the generally darker blue and the fringe of stiff hairs along the edge of the abdomen.Brooke Googins is the photographer. This bee was collected on Plummer's Island as part of Gene Scarpulla's bee project in the Chesapeake Bay of Maryland.

Now, here is Augochloropsis metallica metallica. See the previous post about A. m. fulgida for contrast. Note the generally darker blue and the fringe of stiff hairs along the edge of the abdomen.Brooke Googins is the photographer. This bee was collected on Plummer's Island as part of Gene Scarpulla's bee project in the Chesapeake Bay of Maryland.

Collected by Heather Campbell in the Sandhills of North Carolina, this very uncommon blue and green metallic bee is exquisite at the macro level and, if you download the original file, at the micro level where the surface of the integument is lushly inscribed with microscopic lines and pits...characteristic of this species

Collected by Heather Campbell in the Sandhills of North Carolina, this very uncommon blue and green metallic bee is exquisite at the macro level and, if you download the original file, at the micro level where the surface of the integument is lushly inscribed with microscopic lines and pits...characteristic of this species

Persimmon Psyllid, Baeoalitriozus diospyri, collected on persimmon yesterday by Brad Seay in Davidsonville Maryland. Adult and eggs.

Ah, something in the pea family. This is Baptisia tinctoria...horseflyweed. If I find a patch of this relatively uncommon plant I always spend some time seeing what bees are active around it. In particularly I am looking for Anthidiellums and other members of Megachilidae. Definitely something to plant in your yard if you can get hold of them.

Ctenoplectra, Unknown Blue-tailed Oil Mopping Bee, collected in Thailand by the Thailand Inventory Group for Entomological ResearchAnother Oil Mopping Bee, this an Asian one from Thailand rather than from Africa . Here is a good shot of the large scraper or comb this female has on her hind tibia.

Ctenoplectra, Unknown Blue-tailed Oil Mopping Bee, collected in Thailand by the Thailand Inventory Group for Entomological ResearchAnother Oil Mopping Bee, this an Asian one from Thailand rather than from Africa . Here is a good shot of the large scraper or comb this female has on her hind tibia.

Amegilla of some kind from India...an A bumblebee mimic. A beautifully formatted bee, no matter what, who could come up with all these bee designs! 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.

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

Mourecotelles, Unknown Hairyeye Bee, collected in ArgentinaWhat an attractive bee, unfortunately, that is about all we can say about this species other than it is found in the western temperate regions of South America.

Captured by the butterfly convert Don Harvey in the wilds of Hidalgo County, New Mexico, here is the hunky Anthophora urbana; captured, as you can see from the pollen covering it, after servicing the local flowers. This is one of the most common Anthophora in the West and unlike most bees who get up around 9 a.m. or so, our friend A.

Captured by the butterfly convert Don Harvey in the wilds of Hidalgo County, New Mexico, here is the hunky Anthophora urbana; captured, as you can see from the pollen covering it, after servicing the local flowers. This is one of the most common Anthophora in the West and unlike most bees who get up around 9 a.m. or so, our friend A.

Here is a series of males and females of Anthophora urbana from Yolo County, California. This bee was collected in the California Central Valley in Yolo County for research on small-scale restoration in agricultural areas. Claire Kremen's 10-year study of hedgerows shows the benefits of planting native shrubs and forbs in agricultural areas for native bees.

Messy. This Anthophora is just not very common around the MidAtlantic and I can't quite figure out any particular patterns to where it is ...and where it is not. It is also distributionally interesting since it is found on both coasts, but not in the prairies. Very suspicious. There needs to be an investigation. Are these different species?

An uncommon Anthophora from West Virginia...actually all the native Anthophora are uncommon in the mid-atlantic area and always nice to find. This one collected as part of Dave Smith's malaise trap systems.

A Japanese Bee in America. This is Anthophora villosula. An Anthophora that was introduced in the 80s to Eastern U.S. for ag purposes, but its potential was never realized. Now, unfortunately, it is a common and spreading alien species dispersing from its original location in the Washington D.C. area and will likely occupy much of the country at some point.

We go, once again, to one of my favorite parts of the world, the Badlands of South Dakota. Among several types of Anthophora exists a nicely woke-up white banded species called Anthophora walshii. This species has an interesting distribution, it is almost entirely found in the prairies bumping up to the western mountain ranges.

Melitoma species. One of several species that are in the Melitoma clan, that also occurred in Costa Rica. This is collected by Tim McMahon while on an expedition to that lovely country. The species is currently unknown, at least to us, but note the very long tongue, super characteristic.