Images

Centris poecila, female, Cuba, GTMO June 2011

Ceratina buscki a very small shiny green species from Panama as collected by Sandra Rehan as part of her studies. Ceratina species are almost always stem nesters in the soft pith of brambles and other small woody plants and can be one of the most common bees in some areas.

Ceratina cockerelli, female

Pseudagapostemon citricornis - More Chilean bees from Laurence Packer's expedition to southern Chile. Photographs by Kelly Graninger.

Epiclopis gayi - a cleptoparasitic bee (a.k.a nest parasite or cuckoo bee) of almost certainly Centris bees. Perhaps even of the Centris bee that was posted just prior to this as this bee was also collected in southern Chile on the expedition with Laurence Packer. Photos by Kelly Graniger and Anders Croft.

A little Chilicola species found on the expedition to southern Chile with Laurence Packer. A wee stem nesting bee. Photograph by Anders Croft.

A beautiful pale white and green horse fly from North Carolina, Chlorotabanus crepuscular, a drinker of blood that comes out only at dawn and dusk, this is a southern species I had not seen before. This specimen was collected in Duck, North Carolina by Lisa Kuder. Picture taken by Ashleigh Jacobs.

OK, we are going small, so small that the naked eye (or my naked eye) can't see these bad boys. The 20X Mitutoyo microscope objective opens up a new world. Here the mites on Bob Trumbule's mite infested Christmas Cactus come out beautifully. Too bad I have no idea what group/species they are. Note the stomata's in the picture of the nymph/larvae.

null

null

Ceratina guarnacciona, female, Dominican Republic March 2012

How could one not love the Genus of Ceratina? Elegant, with just the right combination of extra interesting features to keep the interest up. Note the raised clypeus in this one and the lovely fat hairs along the abdominal sections. From the collections of Sandra Rehan at the University of New Hampshire.

Tiny Ceratina from Panama...in the first picture in this series you will see a rod going into its body to hold it in position for photographing in our mini bee studio. Actually this is not a rod but the very tip of the finest acupuncture pin. Yep, that is a small bee.

A Beautiful Invasive. Ceratina smaragdula, male, captured on Hawaii, Oahu, March 2012. This Asian species, along with others has invaded the Hawaiian islands where it thrives in sea of introduced garden plants found at lower elevations on the islands.

Playing a little bit here with a dark gray rather than black background, thoughts welcome. Yet more Ceratina pictures, diversity demands it. This series is from specimens collected in Panama by Sandra Rehan (UNH) as part of her mission to know everything there is to know about Ceratinas.

I particularly like the feel of this shot, something beyond documentation and more about relationship. Yet more Ceratina pictures, diversity demands it. This series is from specimens collected in Panama by Sandra Rehan (UNH) as part of her mission to know everything there is to know about Ceratinas.

One of two shots of yet another slime mold group found by Susan Hopkins during the ATBI Adirondack bioblitz this past week. One can see where they get the common name of coral slime molds.

Coelioxys hunteri, male

Colby Francoeur took this picture of a Coelioxys moesta from Pictured Rocks National Monument in Keweenaw County, Michigan. This bee lays its eggs in the nests of Megachile bees. 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.

Coelioxys moesta, female, rare nest parasite of Megachile bees

East Coast, West Coast, this parasitic species, Coelioxys octodentata occurs throughout the United States, almost completely filling the country with records and stopping at the border for some reason. How closely related are the specimens on the Pacific edge versus the Atlantic? Unknown, but for now they are just one species. Red legs are classic C.