Images

A pollen laden Dianthidium parkeri from Cochise County, Arizona collected by Don Harvey. This genus is associated with drylands. A few occur in the East, but are almost entirely restricted to dry sandy soil habitats. Features here to look at, bee-wise, are the very large wing covers and the winged projections at the corners of the thorax behind the head.

A pollen laden Dianthidium parkeri from Cochise County, Arizona collected by Don Harvey. This genus is associated with drylands. A few occur in the East, but are almost entirely restricted to dry sandy soil habitats. Features here to look at, bee-wise, are the very large wing covers and the winged projections at the corners of the thorax behind the head.

Isn't this a boss looking bee? This is Dianthidium singulare. One of the largest Dianthidiums around. Check out the winged plates near the collar of the bee and the shield like tegula that covers the front wing's insertion point into the body. Such a dramatic species.

Isn't this a boss looking bee? This is Dianthidium singulare. One of the largest Dianthidiums around. Check out the winged plates near the collar of the bee and the shield like tegula that covers the front wing's insertion point into the body. Such a dramatic species.

Isn't this a boss looking bee? This is Dianthidium singulare. One of the largest Dianthidiums around. Check out the winged plates near the collar of the bee and the shield like tegula that covers the front wing's insertion point into the body. Such a dramatic species.

Dianthidium simile, female, Michigan, July 2011, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Dianthidium simile, female, Michigan, July 2011, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Dianthidium simile, female, Michigan, July 2011, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Dutchman's Breeches. Just another wild variant in the dance of plant with bee. Wouldn't you like to see an evolutionary time lapse of the development of this flower as it couples in just the right way with bumblebees; one rewarded with an exchange of gametes and the other with food for it young, whilst leaving the other pollinators to lean against the gym wall.

Dutchman's Breeches. Just another wild variant in the dance of plant with bee. Wouldn't you like to see an evolutionary time lapse of the development of this flower as it couples in just the right way with bumblebees; one rewarded with an exchange of gametes and the other with food for it young, whilst leaving the other pollinators to lean against the gym wall.

Dieunomia heteropoda, Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Dieunomia heteropoda, female , Anne Arundel County, Maryland, September, Only known colony in the state

Dieunomia heteropoda, female, Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Dieunomia heteropoda, female, Anne Arundel County Maryland, The only known colony in the state

Dieunomia heteropoda, male, note the flanges on the rear tibia

Dieunomia heteropoda, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, from a nesting aggregation in a sand pit, the only one in the state I am aware of.

A very cool find. This is a lovely male Dieunomia nevadensis. It was found in Maryland at one of the Chaney Sand Mines. They kindly scraped a section of the site and sure enough it was colonized by all sorts of cool sand bees. No sand...no sand bees. That sort of thing. This one is particularly noteworth because the nearest record was from North Carolina.

A very cool find. This is a lovely male Dieunomia nevadensis. It was found in Maryland at one of the Chaney Sand Mines. They kindly scraped a section of the site and sure enough it was colonized by all sorts of cool sand bees. No sand...no sand bees. That sort of thing. This one is particularly noteworth because the nearest record was from North Carolina.

A very cool find. This is a lovely male Dieunomia nevadensis. It was found in Maryland at one of the Chaney Sand Mines. They kindly scraped a section of the site and sure enough it was colonized by all sorts of cool sand bees. No sand...no sand bees. That sort of thing. This one is particularly noteworthy because the nearest record was from North Carolina.

150 year old specimen from Mexico that was deposited in the Paris Entomological Collection. Note the crenulated antennae and the fact that the specimen has largely retained its shape and color all these years. Many of these old specimens are still our reference points for taxonomy, distributions, and what things were like in the past.

In full bloom this is more of a lavender/blue flower, but not one that people pay much mind to. Diodia teres, often called Poorjoe, is a plant associated with highly disturbed, often sandy dry sites. Does well, I have collected bees off it, but not enough to make much of a study of it. This specimen was collected and photographed by Helen Lowe Metzman.