Images

Richmond County, North Carolina

Scutigera coleoptrata, the house centipede, collected by one of the interns in her house. Photograph by Sue Boo.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, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

Scutigera coleoptrata, the house centipede, collected by one of the interns in her house.

House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, dead after likely striking the DC Convention Center building

Bluets, or Quaker Ladies. Their delicate loveliness does not quite shouw up in these pictures...forming little clumps in poor soils and a part of spring I wait for each year. Specimen and photos from Helen Low Metzman.

Goldenseal. Hydrastis canadensis. Another early spring bloomer. A long history as a native medicinal plant on the continent. Helen Low Metzman collected the specimen and took the picture.

Goldenseal. Hydrastis canadensis. Another early spring bloomer. A long history as a native medicinal plant on the continent. Helen Low Metzman collected the specimen and took the picture.

Another set of shots of a masked bee from the Adirondack Mountains. This is a northerish bee...it extends south, but only along the Appalachians. Most of the females (as in this one) have a bit of yellow on the tip of the clypeus. Not uncommon, look for them on flat topped flowers such as Queen Anne's lace. The look is more wasp than bee however.

The genus Hylaeus is referred to as the Masked Bee group. Most species have yellow vaguely mask-like yellow/white markings on their face. Not this one. It is distinctive in the absence of yellow. Looks like a wasp, does it not? This is because is carries its pollen and nectar loads internally and so the normal hairiness of most bees can be dispensed with.

The genus Hylaeus is referred to as the Masked Bee group. Most species have yellow vaguely mask-like yellow/white markings on their face. Not this one. It is distinctive in the absence of yellow. Looks like a wasp, does it not? This is because is carries its pollen and nectar loads internally and so the normal hairiness of most bees can be dispensed with.

In rough translation this would be the "Florida Masked Bee." Tiny, grain of rice things, and usually mistaken for wasps as they carry their pollen internally rather than in their body hairs like other bees. Thus they have reverted to the wasp shape from whence bees came.

In rough translation this would be the "Florida Masked Bee." Tiny, grain of rice things, and usually mistaken for wasps as they carry their pollen internally rather than in their body hairs like other bees. Thus they have reverted to the wasp shape from whence bees came.

New State Record for Maryland, April 2012 Collected on Willow blooms in Dorchester County....a very rarely collected bee east of the Mississippi. I don't know any recent records

New State Record for Maryland, April 2012 Collected on Willow blooms in Dorchester County....a very rarely collected bee east of the Mississippi. I don't know any recent records

Morris Arboretum, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, non-native species, collected by Stephanie Wilson

Morris Arboretum, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, non-native species, collected by Stephanie Wilson

For some reason this species, Hylaeus leptocephalus, one of the masked bees, is one of the first non-native bees ever detected in the Americas. Oddly, it was first detected in the Dakotas around 1900. There must be a good story there, but we don't know what it is.... Reasonably common now, but mostly in disturbed, urban environments.

For some reason this species, Hylaeus leptocephalus, one of the masked bees, is one of the first non-native bees ever detected in the Americas. Oddly, it was first detected in the Dakotas around 1900. There must be a good story there, but we don't know what it is.... Reasonably common now, but mostly in disturbed, urban environments.

Masked Bee from Dorchester County. An alien masked bee, Hylaeus leptocephalus to be exact. In Maryland (in this case, Cambridge, Maryland) it is almost completely restricted to the urban weedy lot and industrial tract. Railroad lines...the best. Photography by Amanda Robinson.

A lovely Hylaeus from Australia with some nice yellow pinstriping on the face and bold swaths on the scuttellum, pronotal lobe, and metanotum. From the Packer Bee Laboratory. 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 wetlands bee, usually with red on the basal segments of the abdomen but not always. The males with extensive yellow on their faces. Here from the marshes of Kent County, Maryland