Images

The oft times difficult to id male of the not so hard to id female Osmia georgica. Sometimes bees are inconvenient to work with. Picture by Amanda Robinson. 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.

A not that great shot of a beat up male Osmia georgica from Maryland. why did I choose this lousy specimen? I am just not sure. Photo by Amanda Robinson. 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.

Osmia grindeliae is a widespread western mason bee. It just barely squeaks into Canada and no records as of yet in Mexico. This female was found in Yosemite National Park and collected for a project done by Lauren Ponisio examining the effect of fire diversity on bees (Ponisio et al. Gloebal Change Biol. 2016). Photograph by Samia Shell.

Osmia grindeliae is a widespread western mason bee. It just barely squeaks into Canada and no records as of yet in Mexico. This female was found in Yosemite National Park and collected for a project done by Lauren Ponisio examining the effect of fire diversity on bees (Ponisio et al. Gloebal Change Biol. 2016). Photograph by Samia Shell.

Range Jumper. This range jumper jumped from Illinois to Virginia. There are no records in between. How odd....this is a rare bee in its limited range in the Midwest and to find it all the way in the Mountains of Virginia seems near fantastical, but there it is and more than one specimen too.

A bee I often associate with Sandy areas...this one captured on Cape Cod National Seashore as part of comparative studies of dune loving bees.

A bee I often associate with Sandy areas...this one captured on Cape Cod National Seashore as part of comparative studies of dune loving bees.

A bee I often associate with Sandy areas...this one captured on Cape Cod National Seashore as part of comparative studies of dune loving bees.

This bee is part of a taxonomic mystery spanning the continent. It turns out that the male of this species is very likely named as O. trevoris, by a long ago taxonomist., All specimens were thought to be limited to the West, but....there were these strange Osmia around the Great Lakes that were sometimes called (incorrectly it now seems) O.

This bee is part of a taxonomic mystery spanning the continent. It turns out that the male of this species is very likely named as O. trevoris, by a long ago taxonomist., All specimens were thought to be limited to the West, but....there were these strange Osmia around the Great Lakes that were sometimes called (incorrectly it now seems) O.

Bright and shiny purple green blue unlike the relatively drab eastern species this is Osmia kincadii...found in the upper elevations of Yosemite National Park as part of a burn study. Photo by Anders Croft.

Ah, another beautiful green Osmia bee from the western U.S. O. kincaidii is the name, makes nest in holes in wood and lines them with leaf pulp. Praise the color selections that Nature provides. Collected in Yosemite National Park by Claire Kremen's Bee Troopers. Photograph by Anders Croft.

The classic Blue Orchard Bee, that many gardeners make nests for by drilling blocks of wood or buying little houses or straws. All well and good except for the fact that 2 recent Asian Osmia species are now starting to dominate populations in both urban and rural areas. O. taurus and O. cornifrons.

Ah, what a lovely ethereal composition. This is the male of the Blue Orchard Bee, studied for its use in orchards as a pollinator. Collected and photographed by Laura Campbell in the Virginia Beach area.

Some Osmia are not shiny metallic green or blue, but black to midnight blue like our buddy O. montana here. Collected in the mountains of Yosemite National Park as part of a burn recovery project by Claire Kremen's group. Photos by Anders Croft.

Taxonomy and Discovery. One would expect based on what we know about things like plants and birds, that we would largely have figured out what species of bees exist in the Eastern United States...Not so, still much to do for the students of bees.

Who doesn't love an Osmia...particularly an Osmia paradisica from the under visited Great Basin National Park. Picture taken by Brooke Alexander. 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.

Who doesn't love an Osmia...particularly an Osmia paradisica from the under visited Great Basin National Park. Picture taken by Brooke Alexander. 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.

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