Images

Upper Marlboro, MD, May 2012

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.

Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge, SC

Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina

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.

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.

Sexy Cerambycid beetles from Kruger National Park Genus: Tragocephala. Check how the eye wraps around the antennae and peeks out atop the head. Makes those plain old round vertebrate eyes seem limiting. Photograph by Anders Croft.

Maryland, Harford County, Lake levi, shed skin of dragonfly, collected by Richard Orr

Unknown species of Treehopper collected in the Dominican Republic and suspended in Hand Sanitizer for this shot. The HS allows us to float the specimen how we like, but the high refraction index of HS means we loose a lot of surface detail due to loss of reflectivity. On the other hand it often adds a smoothing and saturation effect to the photo.

One of the very common Flower Chafers....They often fake me out when collecting bees on flowers as they fly amazingly well.

One of the very common Flower Chafers....They often fake me out when collecting bees on flowers as they fly amazingly well.

Ah, look, another bee from another continent with long thin antennal segments that broaden in to form small lollipops at the ends, also note the fine hairs coming off of the thin segments. Unlike the Nomia from Africa this one hails from South America and in the family Apidae. As usual, not much is known of the biology of this group.

Trichodes ornatus, Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming

A rather dark and dangerous looking be from Chile. This is Trichothurgus aterimma what many specimens from Laurence Packer's collection up in New York University, Ontario. 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.

Triepeolus concavus. Most Triepeolus bees are nest parasites of Melissodes, but a few interestingly have taken up with other groups of bees. This big one invades the nests of Svastra species...a group allied with Melissodes but a bit more robust and buff in their body. This one collected in Badlands National Park.

New species for the state of Maryland, this is Triepeolus concavus. As are all Triepeolus this one is a nest parasites. In this case, it's host is Svastra obliqua, an uncommon bee that loves large composites and is a good indication of high-quality habitat.

New species for the state of Maryland, this is Triepeolus concavus. As are all Triepeolus this one is a nest parasites. In this case, it's host is Svastra obliqua, an uncommon bee that loves large composites and is a good indication of high-quality habitat.

Triepeolus cressonii, a couple of additional shots of this new "state" record for Washington DC. The specimen was collected at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens along the Anacostia River by Chelsey Nordstrom, who also took the picture.