Images

Ladybird pupa, White Oak leaf, Beltsville, Maryland, August 2012, determination by speech path girl

Ladybird pupa, White Oak leaf, Beltsville, Maryland, August 2012, determination by speech path girl

Lamium purpureum, Beltsville, Maryland .... a tiny mint that up close demonstrates so many hidden facets of beauty

Collected by Noel Pavlovic who provides these tidbits. Larinus planus, a biocontrol weevil, for Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) that is infesting the federally threatened Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcheri).

Larrini, Unknown species, Dorchester County, April 2012, MarylandLiris argentatus?

Golden Ragwort, Packera aurea. Common in Appalachia...and spotty on the coastal plains. Favored by Andrena gardineri...who feed their young only pollen from this plant. A nice ground cover plant for gardens, particularly shaded ones....Photo and specimens from Helen Lowe Metzman.

Golden Ragwort, Packera aurea. Common in Appalachia...and spotty on the coastal plains. Favored by Andrena gardineri...who feed their young only pollen from this plant. A nice ground cover plant for gardens, particularly shaded ones....Photo and specimens from Helen Lowe Metzman.

Palaeorhiza species, Badass Masked Bee, specimen collected in Papua New GuineaThin, relatively hairless, dangerous looking Masked Bees are waspish in aspect since they carry their pollen and nectar internally rather than trapped in external hairs.

An Uncommon (or is it?) Deerberry specialist. If you don't collect bees on Deerberry (Vaccinium staminium) you will never see this bee (Panurginus atramontensis). It only gathers pollen and probably almost all of its nectar from this plant.

An Uncommon (or is it?) Deerberry specialist. If you don't collect bees on Deerberry (Vaccinium staminium) you will never see this bee (Panurginus atramontensis). It only gathers pollen and probably almost all of its nectar from this plant.

An Uncommon (or is it?) Deerberry specialist. If you don't collect bees on Deerberry (Vaccinium staminium) you will never see this bee (Panurginus atramontensis). It only gathers pollen and probably almost all of its nectar from this plant.

A tiny tiny bee, a specialist on Potentilla or Cinquefoil plants in North America. This one came from a colony I discovered in a dirt patch right in the front lawn of our laboratory. These sorts of bare dirt / clay / sand areas are often great bee nesting sites.

A tiny tiny bee, a specialist on Potentilla or Cinquefoil plants in North America. This one came from a colony I discovered in a dirt patch right in the front lawn of our laboratory. These sorts of bare dirt / clay / sand areas are often great bee nesting sites.

Undescribed Panurginus Species from Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Undescribed Panurginus Species from Badlands National Park

One of the graciously metallic species of the subgenus Paracmaeodera found on flowers and bowl traps in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Photo by Anders Croft.

Paracolletes species, On and Off Bee, specimen collected in AustraliaThis species is unusually sexually dimorphic in color. The males are quite bright, as can be seen here, the females are what might be called the "null hypothesis" for bee coloration "“ brownish grey on the head and thorax with a black abdomen with white transverse hair bands.

Paracolletes species, On and Off Bee, specimen collected in AustraliaThis species is unusually sexually dimorphic in color. The males are quite bright, as can be seen here, the females are what might be called the "null hypothesis" for bee coloration "“ brownish grey on the head and thorax with a black abdomen with white transverse hair bands.

A little flower fly from the Badlands of South Dakota, this one was part of a study led by Diane Larson looking at the web of pollinators on some of the rare plant communities found in the gumbo soils of Badlands National Park. An interesting species found in North America, Europe, and Africa.

This is picture 8 from a 12 picture invited series by Matt Buffington (matt.buffington@usda.gov) at the USDA Parastitic Hymentoptera group using specimens from the U.S. Natural History Museum Smithsonian. Matt uses a system very similar to ours to photograph and stack this super tiny wasp.

A nest parasite from the dry regions of Mexico and the Southwestern United States, this group infiltrates the communal nests of Exomalopsis to lay their eggs in the nest cells being built. Lovely combination of plush hair bands and shiny integumen.