Images

A large bright green with blue overtones Agapostemon from Badlands National Park. One of several species present there and very similar to A. virescens and a bit tricky to tell apart. Photo by Wayne Boo with help from Ben Smith on upping the Photoshopping techniques.

Amblycorypha oblongifolia, Oblong-winged katydid, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, July 2012

Amegilla....one of a large group of large Old World bees that blend and fracture colors in wonderful ways. In this case this male Amegilla from Australia from the Laurence Packer Lab bee slots in a whole series of subtly iridescent green hairs amidst a mix of white and black, quite nice and surely a useful design for a rug or tapestry of some sort.

From Kruger National Park: Amegilla atrocincta. Amegillas come in a variety of sizes and shapes, but most are larger than honey bees. Most too are laddered with bold white stripes across the abdomen (A.

Andrena aliciae, female

Andrena aliciae, male

Maine, Collected by Sara Bushman

Male Agapostemon's almost all have this same pattern, Metallicy green on the head and thorax and then striped yellow and black on the abdomen. Females uniformly don't have yellow anywhere. Why is good question as this male yellowness syndrome runs throughout the bee kingdom, cutting across families.

Another bee associated with deep sandy soils. This one also found in a study sand pit reclamation in Anne Arundel County in Maryland. Amazing to think that such metallic green bees are all around us having done their business for millions of years.

White Snakeroot, Ageratina altissima. Collected and Photographed by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Yellow Bee: Yellow Pollen : Andrena hirticincta : Maine : Agriculture field edges. This is a fall bee, a bee of goldenrod and aster. How nice. Collected By Brianne Du Clos and photographed by Dejen Mengis.

From malaise traps set in the woodland bottomlands of the Patuxent River comes the uncommonly detected Andrena illicis. Here is a male with its notable orangish legs.

Andrena illinoiensis, South Dakota, Badlands National Park,

Andrena illinoensis, female

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.

what is your thinking on willows? Like most people, maybe not much. They make great wicker baskets. They also tolerate some pretty extreme conditions along rivers, streams, tundra, that other trees can handle. In the East they are the largest plant being that has "specialist" bees.

what is your thinking on willows? Like most people, maybe not much. They make great wicker baskets. They also tolerate some pretty extreme conditions along rivers, streams, tundra, that other trees can handle. In the East they are the largest plant being that has "specialist" bees.

Andrena macra. One of almost 100 species of Andrena that occur in the State of Maryland.

Andrena uvulariae, Female, Recently, this species was known only from the type, but work by Mike Arduser, Joan Milam, and John Ascher have resulted locating additional specimens along the the male. It appears to be a pollen specialist on Bellflowers. This specimen is approximately 100 years old from the Smithsonian collection.

This is a first in what will be a series of pictures from Claire Kremen's Lab at U.C. Berkeley. This is Andrena vanduzeei, an endemic California bee, restricted to the High Sierras. Note the lovely blue metallic notes and surrounding dark hairs. Specimens collected in Yosemite National Park. Picture by Sydney Price.

Various Andrena, adding to the catalog....most with bad hair. Sigh.