Images

Look closely at the stinkbugs in your house...there is a great deal of beauty there. Halyomorpha halys

Agrilus ruficollis from my backyard. Likely from my moth sheet, but am running through my backlog of pictures and can't recall.

Agrilus ruficollis from my backyard. Likely from my moth sheet, but am running through my backlog of pictures and can't recall.

Beetles from Kruger National Park in South Africa. This is the start of a series of pictures of insects that come to the flowers in Kruger. This is a project led by James Harrison from S.A. and Jonathan Mawdsley from the U.S. I was lucky enough to come along and do some bee collecting. Interesting system.

A very small soldier beetle. This beetle is from the genus Malthodes and was collected by Brent Steury near Little Hunting Creek on the George Washington Memorial Parkway lands, operated by the National Park Service. While the species is still unknown, it does represent a new state record for Virginia and is in the process of being published.

A very small soldier beetle. This beetle is from the genus Malthodes (now identified as Caccodes granicollis...6/14/18) and was collected by Brent Steury near Little Hunting Creek on the George Washington Memorial Parkway lands, operated by the National Park Service.

A relatively common bee of Southern Chile. Seen regularly on Laurence Packer's expedition there in 2017. A lovely male. Photograph by Erick Hernandez.

A relatively common bee of Southern Chile. Seen regularly on Laurence Packer's expedition there in 2017. A lovely male. Photograph by Erick Hernandez.

Another Chrysidid wasp (cuckoo wasp) from the Hart-Miller Dredge Spoil site in Baltimore Harbor, collected by Eugene Scarpulla, photographed by Brooke Alexander Identification by Lynn KimseyCanon 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, link to a .pdf of o

Another Chrysidid wasp (cuckoo wasp) from the Hart-Miller Dredge Spoil site in Baltimore Harbor, collected by Eugene Scarpulla, photographed by Brooke Alexander Identification by Lynn KimseyCanon 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, link to a .pdf of o

This, I feel, is as piquant as a picture can be. We are a production shop, we parse thousands of insect specimens collected by many people. At times, like this one, specimens come in that are uncommon or part of a study (here from a survey of Hart-Miller Island by Gene Scarpulla) and you take what you get.

More from last year's expedition to Chile with Laurence Packer. Such a lovely country...we camped in a new place every day. Ping ponging from the Andes to the Coast sleeping along the road or in open pastures. Lovely people, easy travel, no problems with law enforcement people. This is a Caenohalictus species of some kind.

More from last year's expedition to Chile with Laurence Packer. Such a lovely country...we camped in a new place every day. Ping ponging from the Andes to the Coast sleeping along the road or in open pastures. Lovely people, easy travel, no problems with law enforcement people. This is a Caenohalictus species of some kind.

As the name implies this species from East of the Andes superficially resembles the parasitic bee genus Nomada. However for whatever reason they have chosen from the wardrobe of bee colors the same cloths they act quite differently. Of note is that both the males and females of this species gather oil in addition to the usual pollen and nectar.

As the name implies this species from East of the Andes superficially resembles the parasitic bee genus Nomada. However for whatever reason they have chosen from the wardrobe of bee colors the same cloths they act quite differently. Of note is that both the males and females of this species gather oil in addition to the usual pollen and nectar.

One of the most common bees in Eastern North America, particularly in urban and disturbed environments. They are attracted to piles of dirt or open scraped soils and appear to be a huge fan of clovers, plants that also favor lawns and open disturbed sites.

One of the most common bees in Eastern North America, particularly in urban and disturbed environments. They are attracted to piles of dirt or open scraped soils and appear to be a huge fan of clovers, plants that also favor lawns and open disturbed sites.

One of the most common bees in Eastern North America, particularly in urban and disturbed environments. They are attracted to piles of dirt or open scraped soils and appear to be a huge fan of clovers, plants that also favor lawns and open disturbed sites.

A composite specialist. This is a small species that inhabits the central plains of the continent; leaking a bit east and west. Collected in Badlands of South Dakota. Photo by Kelly Graninger.

A little, somewhat flattened bee, from the mountains of Yosemite National Park. Members of this group are often very discriminating in their tastes for pollen. Feeding their young pollen often from a single genus of plants. Picky eaters I suppose. Part of a study by Claire Kremen in the high conifer regions of the Park. Photo by Anders Croft.

Perhaps it is too late at night or that I am listening to Enyaesque music and nibbling on pure cacao, but I am transfixed by this particular bee and shot, it just calls up something ancient, something that really brings home the fact that our evolutionary paths separated long ago.