Images

The tiny twin whiteness of Partridgeberry blooms. Just part of that lovely obscure flora we have that paints some of our forest floors. I associate Mitchella repens with woods on the acid end of the scale in areas with a little slope and not a lot of competition with other plants. A hard one to take good shots with our set up ....too white....too much flash.

From Acadia National Park, comes a nest parasites of Megachilidae. Picture taken by Haegan Ahmed and Photoshop by Dejen Mengis. 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.

Danaus plexippus. The Monarch Butterfly. Maryland.

Danaus plexippus. The Monarch Butterfly. Maryland.

Bee Balm. Good for a spicy summer drink and hummingbird and bee forage the rest of the time. Specimen and photograph by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Ghost Pipe, nice name for the parasitic plant. Who knew that it is now considered to be part of the Heath family with kinship to blueberries and cranberries. Pollinators go to the ghost pipe too. Plant and photo by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Ghost Pipe, nice name for the parasitic plant. Who knew that it is now considered to be part of the Heath family with kinship to blueberries and cranberries. Pollinators go to the ghost pipe too. Plant and photo by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Funaria hygrometrica, identified by Charlie Davis, found in crack in stone deck of laboratory building; Beltsville, Maryland

Unknown species of moth collected during moth week in Upper Marlboro, Maryland

No king every arrayed so well as this Apple Bark Borer - Synanthedon pyri - One of the clearwings - Found today in Beltsville, MD, what we pass up in our little walks in the woods!

One of the most common bees in the East...if only we could figure out how to identify it more easily. Here we have Lasioglossum trigeminum. Fits right in with A. admirandum, A. versatum, and A. callidum and I often struggle with dark second thoughts about the specimens Id, because of all the overlap.

Adult female, Harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica, a common pest of brassicas, these were raised by the Weber USDA lab at Beltsville, Maryland

Eggs, Harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica, a common pest of brassicas, these were raised by the Weber USDA lab at Beltsville, Maryland

Eggs, Harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica, a common pest of brassicas, these were raised by the Weber USDA lab at Beltsville, Maryland

Mushroom species, unknown, approximately 15 mm across the top on a rotting log,September 21, 2012, Beltsville, MD

Cumberland Island National Seashore,Georgia

Velvet Ants are not ants but, rather, they are wasps and many of them are not the standard red colored velvet ant usually portrayed. Here is a small ochreish colored male (only males have wings) from California. For wasps they are quite hairy. So there. Photograph by Dejen Mengis.

Great Basin National Park. Still processing photos from our big survey of bees of U.S. parks. In this case, there was a lovely mutillid wasp, (velvet ant) in the sample. Oddly the female's hair color shifted between the shots....Not clear why.

Great Basin National Park. Still processing photos from our big survey of bees of U.S. parks. In this case, there was a lovely mutillid wasp, (velvet ant) in the sample. Oddly the female's hair color shifted between the shots....Not clear why.

Wicked Wasp Week. All week, All wasps. Witchy. Muttilids. Ah, here is one, such a group you would not want to meet if they were 10 feet tall. Check out the tarsal comb on this one from Great Basin National Park in Utah....perhaps used to pick the pieces of its victims out of its teeth.

Mutillid Wasp, Male Velvet Ant, Prince George's County, Maryland