Images

Rare, Rare, Rare. This Epeolus howardi, a nest parasite of one of the Cellophane Bees in the genus Colletes. Which species of Colletes, you ask, as is more often the case than not ... we don't know. This bee has only been collected a handful of times in the Mid-Atlantic states and that is about all we know.

Collected in South Dakota in Badlands National Park, this tiny nest parasite of Colletes is the first record for the state. Amber Reese took the pictureCanon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia...A pretty little nest parasite of Colletes bees

Ahhhhhh, something new under the sun. Alma Solis a USDA entomologist showed me these specimens of the smallish moth Epitamyra thermalis. After finding essentially nothing about these moths and the super cool sound structure on these male's wings I wrote Alma and she replied: "Sam, you are venturing into scientific NEW information.

Eriotremex formosanus, A giant introduced horntail from Asia found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN

That Badlands...of South Dakota. One of my favorite places and filled with bees! Here is Eucera aragalli from Badlands National Park. Juking on those colors. Photography by Dejen Mengis.

A beautiful spring Eucera from Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Eucera are almost always buff bees. Photograph by Dejen Mengis. 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.

Some ratty specimens of Eucera dubitata from West Virginia. Photos by Kamren Jefferson.

A nicely arrayed longhorned bee from southern Georgia. It is rare that we get to see a bee so nicely laid out. Of the tens of thousands of these that we process each year most are hair-matted, covered in pollen or dirt, have crumpled wings, and are nowhere near this symmetrical. What a delight.Collected by Sabrie Breland in cool whispering Pines of the lowlands.

A rather dirty western Eucera fulvitarsis from Fossil Butte National Monument. Nice combination of blacks and ochers. Hopefully we will get a better specimens at some point. Photo by Maggie Yuan.

Collected by Dave Gruenewald from Emory in the southern piney forests of Georgia, where he is studying forestry regeneration impacts on native bees. This is a rare species, located only in the deep south along the coastal plain, perhaps it is not so rare as we think, but that so few people collect and study bees in this area.

Eucera rosae, Queen Anne's County, Maryland

Eucera rosae, female, Maryland, Queen Anne's County

Euperilampus triangularis , Maryland, Garrett County, July 2012Perilampidae

Euphorbia helioscopia...growing near building...possibly naturalized, but the area had not been planted for years, determined by Bill Harmes from photo

Euryglossina leyburnensis, Cylidrical Perplexing Bee, collected in AustraliaDoes this look like a bee? Not really, and indeed the Cylindrical Perplexing Bee has fooled many a melittologist (the self-proclaimed name for those of us who instead of becoming plumbers or presidents took up the study of bees). Why does it look so different?

null

150 year old specimen from Mexico that was deposited in the Paris Entomological Collection. Note the crenulated antennae and the fact that the specimen has largely retained its shape and color all these years. Many of these old specimens are still our reference points for taxonomy, distributions, and what things were like in the past.

A headshot of the uncommon specialist bee, Dufourea monardae. As one might suppose, based on the species part of its name this is a monarda specialist.

An uncommonly collected species whose status is largely unknow because people don't spend enough time swimming in the mud to look at the bees coming to Pickerelweed. There are 3 eastern uncommon species all from different genera who are specialists on this plant...this is one, and was collected in Maine by Samantha Gallagher.

An uncommonly collected species whose status is largely unknow because people don't spend enough time swimming in the mud to look at the bees coming to Pickerelweed. There are 3 eastern uncommon species all from different genera who are specialists on this plant...this is one, and was collected in Maine by Samantha Gallagher.