Images

Cranberry Specialist. This very uncommon bog loving species was collected in the Sandhills of North Carolina where it was captured by Heather Campbell and feeds its babies the pollen from wild cranberries and its relatives. You can even see some of the pollen on the top of its head and on its legs.

Cranberry Specialist. This very uncommon bog loving species was collected in the Sandhills of North Carolina where it was captured by Heather Campbell and feeds its babies the pollen from wild cranberries and its relatives. You can even see some of the pollen on the top of its head and on its legs.

A cranberry specialist. This bee is one of the few bees that specializes on bogs and bog plants and is found in scattered locations from Southern New England along the coastal plane to the Gulf Coast. This specimen was collected by Heather Campbell in the sandhills of North Carolina. Photograph by Brooke Alexander.

Cranberry lover from Georgia. This is a classic example of a bee whose range is restricted by the pollen it needs to feed its young.

There are 6 families of bees in North America. The bee here Melitta melittoides is member of Melittidae. Melittidae has only 2 genera of bees in the East. Most of them are highly specialized. Our friend here is a Lyonia (maleberry) specialist. In the face shot of the female...check out the size of those mandibles.

There are 6 families of bees in North America. The bee here Melitta melittoides is member of Melittidae. Melittidae has only 2 genera of bees in the East. Most of them are highly specialized. Our friend here is a Lyonia (maleberry) specialist. In the face shot of the female...check out the size of those mandibles.

Looks just like a "bee" does it not? Not super sexy, pretty plain really. But so very interesting. This is Melitta melittoides. A very uncommon bee. Uncommon because it only feeds its babies the pollen from Lyonia (Fetterbush, Staggerbush if you will).

An all African. This small species was captured in South Africa by Laurence Packer's lab. Often this species has multiple males and females using the same nest, though apparently not dividing up the labor, but simply finding some advantage of living together rather than nesting in the ground separately.

Hey now here is a common bee from Kruger National Park, Meliturgula scriptifrons. A smallish brown bee that are commonly caught in bowl traps. Part of the small number of genera in Andrenidae. Photo by Kelly Graninger.

Swamp sparrow, Close up of Neck Feathers, Washington D.C., Fall or spring 2012, died striking building downtown, collected by lightsoutdc with permits

Swamp sparrow, Washington D.C., Fall or spring 2012, died striking building downtown, collected by lightsoutdc with permits

Here we have the nest parasite of one of Puerto Rico's Centris bees. Its lays its eggs in the nests of the host, kills the hosts egg or young and eats the stores. Taxonomically its not clear what this species is but it appears to be close to (aff. = affiliated with) M. rufipes. Perhaps you, dear reader, will figure that out.

Here we have the nest parasite of one of Puerto Rico's Centris bees. Its lays its eggs in the nests of the host, kills the hosts egg or young and eats the stores. Taxonomically its not clear what this species is but it appears to be close to (aff. = affiliated with) M. rufipes. Perhaps you, dear reader, will figure that out.

Here we have the nest parasite of one of Puerto Rico's Centris bees. Its lays its eggs in the nests of the host, kills the hosts egg or young and eats the stores. Taxonomically its not clear what this species is but it appears to be close to (aff. = affiliated with) M. rufipes. Perhaps you, dear reader, will figure that out.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Mesopl1a azurea, CUBA, GTMO, 2011, June

Wasp species, It would appear to me to be a parasitic wasp, Anne Arundel County, MarylandIdentified as a probable Metopiinae by Bob Carlson of USDA

The foot of the American Mink: Neovison vison. A lovely male freshly killed where a stream crosses the road in the progenitor of all suburbs: Bowie, Maryland. All sorts of things exist in these seeming wastelands.

The foot of the American Mink: Neovison vison. A lovely male freshly killed where a stream crosses the road in the progenitor of all suburbs: Bowie, Maryland. All sorts of things exist in these seeming wastelands.

This is a 10X detail of the wing of Mirina fenzeli, and odd moth from China. It is a plainish white moth but has a super dark spot (one edge is illustrated here) which sucks in almost all light (and therefore is hard to photograph) the scales are up right rather than flattened and the surround white scales are very dissected and spikey...cool.