Images

We almost never show the undercarriage of a bee....but, here you go. A Megachile from Morocco that is in the Chalicodoma subgenus, group, or sometimes full blown genus depending upon your taxonomic proclivities.

Mystery Moth cocoon from Chincoteague Island, Virginia on playground equipment found by they very young naturalist Luke Whitaker while playing. This cocoon is about 12mm long. One can see the playground effect in that polyester is incorporated into the cocoon along with lichens and bark. Very modern. Could use help in determining the species.

Karner Blue, Lycaeides melissa samuelis, an endangered lupine eater, This one from Indiana, while the specimen is not in great shape, at full resolution the scales and micro patterns are still beautiful

One of the rarely seen leafcutting bees, this one is Megachile integrella from the sandhills of North Carolina collected by Heather Campbell and photoed by Amber Reese

Macropis europaea, European Oil Bee, specimen collected by Heinrich Friese in AustriaSometimes an entire group of bees develops a relationship with one group of plants. The 16 little species of Macropis Oil Bees are such a case. They only seek pollen and oil from plants within the genus Lysimachia.

Another Macropis from transmission lines from NH and MA. This species (M. nuda) is also a Lysimachia specialist and the female's bright white pollen carrying hairs and likely the hairs under the abdomen soak up oils which are used by the female to add to pollen to create the food for their young. Collected by Michael Veit and part of a study run by David Wagner.

Another Macropis from transmission lines from NH and MA. This species (M. nuda) is also a Lysimachia specialist and the female's bright white pollen carrying hairs and likely the hairs under the abdomen soak up oils which are used by the female to add to pollen to create the food for their young. Collected by Michael Veit and part of a study run by David Wagner.

Arizona, Petrified Forest National Park, Apache County

Late breaking new...this was identified by Don Harvey as Macrotera portalis (formerly in Perdita...now its own genus)Bee with Big Head. This is a Perdita...a male collected in Cochise County Arizona by Tim McMahon. Why such a big head. Unclear because sometimes in the same species have small heads.

A Megachile from Morocco that is in the Chalicodoma subgenus, group, or sometimes full blown genus depending upon your taxonomic proclivities. Characteristically the females do not cut leaves to line the nests but use resin or mud and thus do not have the scissors-like cutting edges on their mandibles. This nicely arrayed species is from Iran.

Dominican Republic

Megachile concinna, Hispaniola, Dominican Republic, female

Here is a small leaf cutter from Puerto Rico. However, it is not native to P.R. but likely inadvertently introduced through its habit of nesting in holes in wood...which could be holes in pallets or packing crates. Found is scattered locations around North America and even in Hawaii.

Megachile deceptrix, Female, Dominican Republic, March, 2012

Megachile deceptrix, Female, Dominican Republic, March 2012,

Megachile deceptrix, male, Dominican Republic, Hispaniola

Megachile exilis - Megs are most famous for being leaf cutters, but some are not (leaf cutters that is). M.

One of the resin collecting bees, they are in the leaf-cutting bee genus, but separate their walls with resin rather than leaves. They love it if you drill holes in your porch posts (personal observation). This Megachile exilis males has some expanded front leg segments that help in its id...how nice. Collected in Talbot County, Maryland.

There are many Megachile in the world here is one captured in western Maryland and photographed by Heagan Ahmed. Photoshopping by Elizabeth Gardia. For some reason the species seems to be showing up more and more in Eastern North American collections.

Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

Leafcutting bees are normally bright white sorts of things in North America...hoewever, there are a few such as this Megachile gemula that are dark, not in a psychological way, but in that their pollen carrying hairs are black instead of white and much their pale hairs bleed from off-white to yellowish.