Images

A common Carpenter Bee in Kruger National Park where they hang out in blooming trees (particularly legumes) once the trees start blooming with the austral spring rains. Looks a bit like the road stripers got a hold of her. Xylcopa caffra. Identified by Jonathan Mawdsley. Photo by Kelly Graninger.

Another bee from Kruger National Park in South Africa. This is Xylocopa caffra...the male. Note how it is all yellow? Well the female is almost all black with some blocks of yellow on the abdomen. In a number of Carpenter bees on a number of continents this pattern repeats...while in other Carpenter bees the male and female are both dark.

A lovely dark Xylocopa from Kyrgyzstan with shimmering dark iridescence of wing and abdomen. 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.

100 years old and still blue .... ish. Google Xylocopa caerulea to see some knockout recent specimens. Capture in Singapore long ago. Interesting to think what legacy you will have in a 100 years...? Will people still use and find relevant something you did/found/created 100 years from now? Picture taken by Anders Croft.

100 years old and still blue .... ish. Google Xylocopa caerulea to see some knockout recent specimens. Capture in Singapore long ago. Interesting to think what legacy you will have in a 100 years...? Will people still use and find relevant something you did/found/created 100 years from now? Picture taken by Anders Croft.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

A lovely reddish haired carpenter bee from Kruger National Park. Picture by Erick Hernandez.

Anticarsia gemmatalis - Velvetbean Caterpillar - Soybean eater....this species can't overwinter in most of North America but moves north to populate bean and legume fields in large enough numbers to become a major pest, but like our other pesty moths...pretty sharp looking when you get to know them personally. Specimen provided by Benzon Research.

Vitis...grapes, one of the wild species in Maryland. Species unknown at this time. Note that bees have little interest in grapes, most, if not all, grapes are self-fertilized so one rarely sees bee visitors here. Picture and specimen by Helen Lowe Metzman in Howard County, Maryland.

Unknown Wasp, Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, Florida

I believe this to be a wasp in the Genus Ectemnius, but I don't know for sure as I just am not a wasp expert. This one was collected in the Neck District of Talbot County Maryland a few weeks ago. Photo by Wayne Boo.

A very small micro spider from Prince George's County Maryland, which presumably gathers very small spiders for its nests. Apparently, these little spider wasps are very difficult to identify., but quite beautiful in their powdery grayness. Photograph by Sierra Williams and Photshopping by Elizabeth Garcia.

Unknown Aculeate Wasp, Prince George's County Maryland

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

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).

Mile-a-minute weevil, Rhinoncomimus latipes, this weevil has been brought into North America to contol Polygonum perfoliatum, the mile-a-minute weed. Bob Trumble from Maryland's Department of Agriculture dropped off a few of these minute (about 1.5mm) babies and we photographed them using out 10x lens set up.