Images

Biscayne National Park, male Florida, A Southeaster Bee of the deepest iridescence

One the books is a species called Augochloropsis metallica...it has 2 named subspecies A. m. fulgida and A. m. metallica. Turns out that preliminary molecule checking indicates that, yes, they are separate species. Morphology backs that up too. This lovely is from WV collected by Mark Hepner.

One the books is a species called Augochloropsis metallica...it has 2 named subspecies A. m. fulgida and A. m. metallica. Turns out that preliminary molecule checking indicates that, yes, they are separate species. Morphology backs that up too. This lovely is from WV collected by Mark Hepner.

This bee is in your garden! Have you seen it? Collected on the Tomatoes in Francisco Posada's in Laurel, 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.

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

Augochloropsis anonyma, female, Florida

The smooth tones of an unexpected composite, Baccharis halimifolia. Photo taken by Helen Lowe Metzman in Howard County, Maryland. 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.

The smooth tones of an unexpected composite, Baccharis halimifolia. Photo taken by Helen Lowe Metzman in Howard County, Maryland. 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.

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.

Euaspis , Redtail, collected in Kenya by Laurence PackerRedtails are another home invader of other bee 's nests. However, Redtails have a different strategy than most Cuckoo Bees. Instead of dropping an egg in the nest cell while the host bee is away, they wait until the nest of a Lithurgus or Megachile bee is complete and sealed and the female has left.

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.

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

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

Ceratinas occur world-wide and really have the color/form/sculpturing thing down. They are the definition of crispness and elegance in my book. Expect more to come. This one comes from another worn-torn part of the world, the Crimean peninsula, but, really, bees, the study of natural history, pretty neutral ground that all can appreciate.

Ceratinas occur world-wide and really have the color/form/sculpturing thing down. They are the definition of crispness and elegance in my book. Expect more to come. This one comes from another worn-torn part of the world, the Crimean peninsula, but, really, bees, the study of natural history, pretty neutral ground that all can appreciate.

Ceratinas occur world-wide and really have the color/form/sculpturing thing down. They are the definition of crispness and elegance in my book. Expect more to come. This one comes from another worn-torn part of the world, the Crimean peninsula, but, really, bees, the study of natural history, pretty neutral ground that all can appreciate.

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.