Images

Here is a nest parasite. In this case the male.

The only bidentate Nomada I feel comfortablish identifying. All the rest blend together morphologically and maybe molecularly. This is one of the largest and most common of the bidentates and has a unique set of tibial spurs (which is not saying much) and some general coloration patterns that are helpful. Collected in Charles County, Maryland USA.

Intersex. Gynandromorph. Part Male: Park Female. Here is a lovely example. In this case the intersex section is restricted to the head. This is a Nomada of the pygmaea group. pygmaea group indicates that this is probably a group of species, but....I can't tell them apart. Long story.

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.

West Virginia, with a bit of mold on the pollen area

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.

Collected by Tim McMahon in Costa Rica, this is a nest parasite of Centris species, this is Mesoplia rufipes. Nicely aglow with red legs and a blue abdomen. Photo by Anders Croft.

Our disguised snap dragon the Square-stemmed Monkey Flower. Edges of woods, particularly if damp seems to be where I mostly find it. Collected and photographed by Helen Lowe Metzman.

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.

Ironweed specialist. Well at least the female is a specialist in that she feeds here babies the bright white pollen of this group of plants. If you plant Ironweed in your garden Melissodes denticulatus will show up they are that common (ironweed is common too).

The Channel Islands off of the coast of California have their own endemic set of animals and plants. I would expect that there might be some insects of the bee kind that might be endemic to, though I'm not familiar enough with their literature to know that is the case. Here, is Melissodes lustra from those islands. Photography from Sue Boo.

Here is a Melissodes from Pulaski County, Virginia collected at the Radford Munitions Plant which is kept in high quality grasslands because they are good stewards.

From the obscure Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming comes the long-horned bee Melissodes rivalis. This is a male and the group, as a whole, is one of the many confusing bee groups with many tricky to identify members and secret new species to be found.

A small Melissodes bee, in a difficult to identify subgenus....in this case this specimen is covered with pollen, which pollen from what type of plant...? Unclear. But it is from a study of agricultural field edges in Maine by Brianne Du Clos...that much we know. Photograph by Hannah Sutton.

A small Melissodes bee, in a difficult to identify subgenus....in this case this specimen is covered with pollen, which pollen from what type of plant...? Unclear. But it is from a study of agricultural field edges in Maine by Brianne Du Clos...that much we know. Photograph by Hannah Sutton.

Asteracea is important. Here is Melissodes subillatus, which is fluffy, but basically about the size of a honey bee. It, like so many Melissodes, and so many bees in general, is an Asteraceae specialist. This species does not appear to be too picky and uses a range of fall composites, but a look inside the pollen loads would be interesting for sure.

Tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny. You can tell this from the size of the pin. What is size anyway. Clearly this is larger than a virus, let's say, but smaller than an elephant or bread box. But in the perspective of bees, this is really really small...because it is a nest parasite of Perdita which are the smallest of all the bees in North America.

St. Francis's Satyr (Neonympha mitchelli francisci). Only found in North Carolina and only found on Ft. Bragg. Feeds on grasses and sedges in wetlands along streams, most of those wetlands created by beaver and periodic fires from Base activities. These specimens came from captive reared populations that USFWS and others are attempting to slowly create.

St. Francis's Satyr (Neonympha mitchelli francisci). Only found in North Carolina and only found on Ft. Bragg. Feeds on grasses and sedges in wetlands along streams, most of those wetlands created by beaver and periodic fires from Base activities. These specimens came from captive reared populations that USFWS and others are attempting to slowly create.