Images

Headless Bee. This is the tiny Sphecodes antennariae. The smallest, I believe, Sphecodes in the MidAtlantic. The head fell off somewhere between selection for photographing and photographing. One slighly unusual feature of this nest parasite (likely of Lasioglossum) is that it only has 2 rather than 3 submarginal cells...most of the time.

More Sphecodes from the Adirondack Mountains of New York. There are many species of Sphecodes. They look remarkably the same. Females, like this one, inevitably have red butts and the rest about small sculptural differences.

More Sphecodes shots....this one again from our expedition to the Adirondack Mountains. A big species (for a Sphecodes) about 2/3rds the size of a honey bee. Picture by Brooke Alexander.

A species of Sphecodes captured in agriculture areas of Puerto Rico by Sara Prado. This is either a new island record or a new species as there are no known records for Sphecodes for the island. Notice the lovely WIPs (Wing Interference Patterns)

An unknown species of Sphecodes collected by Tim McMahon in Cecil County. Interesting to ask why Sphecodes often have bring red abdomens when bees theoretically can't see red. Photographed by Brooke Alexander

More scorpion shots...The Striped Bark Scorpion. A lovely specimen found on the floor of FT Eyre in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. It is always good to have friends who send you such lovely presents in the mail. This is the only scorpion in the state and over the next few days I will post more shots of this baby. Check out the hypodermic at the end of the sting.

More striped bark scorpion shots... 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.

Erythrodiplax berenice - Abundant in salt marsh habitats, this one from Kent County, collected with Russ Greenberg, Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

Ah, a sedge from the swamp behind my house...close up of the flower head. Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Photograph by Brooke Alexander.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, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

Black-throated Blue Warbler, Setophaga caerulescens, killed striking a building in Washington D.C. in 2012 during migration. Retrieved by dclightsout group.

The hind paw of the Short-tailed Shrew, Blarina brevicauda, found by Liz Sellers, dead, at Banshee Reeks in Virgina. So very delicate. Photograph taken by Liz Sellers. 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.

Blarina brevicauda - the short -tailed shrew. This one found dead in the yard in Upper Marlboro, MD. 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, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

Here is a stitched together row of 11 individual macro pictures of a set of migrating birds (can you identify them all?) that collided with building this fall. I think this is 37,000 pixels X 5,000 pixel picture so it would make quite the long banner if printed out (probably in sections).

Ah, a tiny little iris. One of the Blue-eyed Grasses. These make wonderful little tiny garden potted plants by the way. Bees visit them regularly, though the plant is so small its role as bee food is probably overlooked more than not. Sisyrinchium angustifolium. Specimen and picture by Helen Lowe Metzman.

In keeping with the last series of pictures here is the lavae of the Small Hive Beetle (Aethina tumida). Famous for pillaging honey stores and pollen caps of honey bees, creating a disgusting slimy mess of everything including the psyche of the bee keep. Larvae wrangled by USDA honey bee whisperer Francisco Posada.

Carrion Flower. Yep, fly pollinated...lovely vine design too. Smilax herbacea.

Rhynchomitra microrhina, the lovely and colorful front end of the this lovely and colorful long-nosed Dictyopharid planthopper. It appears to feed on grasses and joins the huge world of native plant driven biodiversity. Can you buy a Rhynchomitramicrorhina at the big box store?

Who doesn't like an orchid? This is green-fringed orchid, found at the edge of the USGS Bee Lab's grounds near some woods. Nice to see this uncommon species. Planathera lacera. Photo and specimen collected by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Polistes dominulus from the Dominican Republic

Who doesn't like the physique of the Paper wasp.

Here we present a series of pictures of Polistes wasp nests with lavae, pupae, eggs, and interlopers.