Images

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.

We have already added the male of this species. As the name implies this species is rufous in its hairs. Check the hairs filled with pollen underneath the abdomen. Collected by Jelle Devalez in the Aegean Islands of Greece. Photography by Brooke Alexander.

Fort Mantanzas has more cool bees to share with use from a tiny coastal monument run by the park service along the upper coast of Florida. This time more junior bees in the genus Perdita. Photography by Sierra Williams, photoshopping by Elizabeth Garcia.

Fort Matanzas National Monument, Florida. A good place to find bees as well as forts. This long-tongued mini-bee was found there.

Little tiny bees from the Petrified Forest National Monument. Perdita are often, if not always, plant specialists and there are mannnnnnnnyyyyy of them, all small and often with enough quirks that putting a name on them can be difficult in the deserts of the Southwest.

Little tiny bees from the Petrified Forest National Monument. Perdita are often, if not always, plant specialists and there are mannnnnnnnyyyyy of them, all small and often with enough quirks that putting a name on them can be difficult in the deserts of the Southwest.

Little tiny bees from the Petrified Forest National Monument. Perdita are often, if not always, plant specialists and there are mannnnnnnnyyyyy of them, all small and often with enough quirks that putting a name on them can be difficult in the deserts of the Southwest.

Perdita luteola, Arizona, Petrified Forest National Park

Perdita phymatae, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Petrified Forest National Monument, Arizona, Apache County

A wee 2mm Perilampid from Hart-Miller Island in the Chesapeake Bay collected by Gene Scarpulla and awaiting final deterimination.

Osmia simillima, female, Acadia National Park, Maine,

A somewhat big and somewhat northern Osmia. One of the frustrating things about bees is that entire groups look about the same, such is Osmia.

An Osmia...one of the group of western species that are bright shiny green instead of the more common dark metallic blue. This one was found in a bee garden in San Francisco under study by Jaime Pawelek. Am pinging Jaime to see if she knows what species this could be.

Within regions of conflict the opinionless great wheel of Nature silently continues. From the West Bank comes a snail shell nesting Osmia loaded with pollen, sometimes included in its own Palaearctic genus Hoplosmia and sometimes...not.

Terrible specimen, but the only specimen on hand for Osmia subarctica. A male with distinctive upturned gonostyli on its genitalia....as we all kinow..!

Pink Pollen Bee. Meet another lover of thistles. The large and late season Osmia texana. The pink pollen is the pink pollen of thistles (I think one of the non-native ones so maybe other thistles don't have pink pollen?).

Note the expanded base of the mandibles...Collected by Tim McMahon and the first state record for Maryland, Photographed by Aaman Mengis.Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Photographer: Sam Droege, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

The smiling face of an American Cockroach...if you get over your pre-consieved notions, these are really pretty handsome insects and most people would not recognize them if they saw this picture.