Images

A mysterious species of Megachile that seems to have recently become common in the East, this specimen or one like it represents the first Maryland record and was collected from the back parking lot of Redskin's Stadium, not exactly the wilderness (or perhaps just a different wilderness..).

From surveys of the urban and disturbed lower slopes of Maui comes a specimen of M. fullawayi, found on some of the other islands it is not surprising that this species would be found here to.

A lovely leaf-cutting bee from Prince George's County, Maryland. Photograph by Colby Francoeur, 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

This specimen came from Patuxent Wildlife Research Center where both M. gemula and M. mucida co-occur. A dark leaf cutter. Photography by Colby Francoeur.Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

A lovely leaf-cutting bee from Prince George's County, Maryland. Photograph by Colby Francoeur, 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

Leafcutting bees are normally bright white sorts of things in North America...hoewever, there are a few such as this Megachile gemula that are dark, not in a psychological way, but in that their pollen carrying hairs are black instead of white and much their pale hairs bleed from off-white to yellowish.

A lovely leaf-cutting bee from Prince George's County, Maryland. Photograph by Colby Francoeur, 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

Megachile inermis - A large female leaf cutter from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. So many species out there, it just goes on and on. Picture taken by Sierra Williams, photoshopping by Elizabeth Garcia.

Megachile inermis, female, Michigan, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Megachile inermis - A large female leaf cutter from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. So many species out there, it just goes on and on. Picture taken by Sierra Williams, photoshopping by Elizabeth Garcia.

A lover of yellow composites. Sunflowers and things that look like sunflowers. Megachile inimica is a big leaf cutter, quite hunky really, a bee's bee. This is a male and was collected at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland.

A lover of yellow composites. Sunflowers and things that look like sunflowers. Megachile inimica is a big leaf cutter, quite hunky really, a bee's bee. This is a male and was collected at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland.

A lover of yellow composites. Sunflowers and things that look like sunflowers. Megachile inimica is a big leaf cutter, quite hunky really, a bee's bee. This is a male and was collected at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland.

Anne Arundel County, Megachile inimica, From a Sand Pit along the Patuxent River

Anne Arundel County, Megachile inimica, From a Sand Pit along the Patuxent River

Anne Arundel County, Megachile inimica, From a Sand Pit along the Patuxent River

Megachile integra is one of a small clade of Megachile and Trachusa that need small viney things in the pea family (fuzzy beans and milk peas) to feed their babies.

Megachile integra is one of a small clade of Megachile and Trachusa that need small viney things in the pea family (fuzzy beans and milk peas) to feed their babies.

Megachile integra is one of a small clade of Megachile and Trachusa that need small viney things in the pea family (fuzzy beans and milk peas) to feed their babies.

Collected by Heather Campbell, from the Sandhills of North Carolina. Photograph by Wayne Boo.Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile

Darn it. As I was loading this picture I realized that we already had a picture of this very same uncommon specimen...That said, I like this shot better, additionally Wayne Boo, the photographer in this case did not cut the edge of the wing off as in the other one.