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Explore our planet through photography and imagery, including climate change and water all the way back to the 1800s when the USGS was surveying the country by horse and buggy.

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Torymus species, (parasite wasp), f, face, Alleghany Co. MD
Torymus species, (parasite wasp), f, face, Alleghany Co. MD
Torymus species, (parasite wasp), f, face, Alleghany Co. MD

Ah, how lovely small things can be. Here is a Torymus species (thanks Matt Buffington for the looky id while you were in the lab). Often parasitizing gall forming wasps, you can see from its ovipositer that something interesting is happening out there in nature land.

Ah, how lovely small things can be. Here is a Torymus species (thanks Matt Buffington for the looky id while you were in the lab). Often parasitizing gall forming wasps, you can see from its ovipositer that something interesting is happening out there in nature land.

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Torymus species, (parasite wasp), f, right, Alleghany Co. MD
Torymus species, (parasite wasp), f, right, Alleghany Co. MD
Torymus species, (parasite wasp), f, right, Alleghany Co. MD

Ah, how lovely small things can be. Here is a Torymus species (thanks Matt Buffington for the looky id while you were in the lab). Often parasitizing gall forming wasps, you can see from its ovipositer that something interesting is happening out there in nature land.

Ah, how lovely small things can be. Here is a Torymus species (thanks Matt Buffington for the looky id while you were in the lab). Often parasitizing gall forming wasps, you can see from its ovipositer that something interesting is happening out there in nature land.

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Tosale oviplagalis, face
Tosale oviplagalis, face
Tosale oviplagalis, face

Upper Marlboro, MD, May 2012This species has a common name:Dimorphic Tosale Mothbut it also has been named by the Doug InkleyThe George Washington Moth

Upper Marlboro, MD, May 2012This species has a common name:Dimorphic Tosale Mothbut it also has been named by the Doug InkleyThe George Washington Moth

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Townsendiella pulchra, f, face, Portal, AZ
Townsendiella pulchra, f, face, Portal, AZ
Townsendiella pulchra, f, face, Portal, AZ

Here you go. A member of a small group of bees that live on the U.S./Mexico border. They have been there for years, moving back and forth parasitizing Hersperapis and Conanthalictus bees in the area. Small things, usually with reddish backends. Collected by Tim McMahon or Don Harvey on one of their expeditions to Arizona.

Here you go. A member of a small group of bees that live on the U.S./Mexico border. They have been there for years, moving back and forth parasitizing Hersperapis and Conanthalictus bees in the area. Small things, usually with reddish backends. Collected by Tim McMahon or Don Harvey on one of their expeditions to Arizona.

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Trachelipus rathkii, U,
Trachelipus rathkii, U,
Trachelipus rathkii, U,

Trachelipus rathkii, sowbug, woodlice, Beltsville, Maryland, taken in a cuvette filled with hand sanitizer

Trachelipus rathkii, sowbug, woodlice, Beltsville, Maryland, taken in a cuvette filled with hand sanitizer

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Trachusa dorsalis, f, back, Sussex Co., VA
Trachusa dorsalis, f, back, Sussex Co., VA
Trachusa dorsalis, f, back, Sussex Co., VA

Who doestn't love a nicely striped bee? Truchusa dorsalis on display here with stripes made on Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia and later picked up by the Virginia Heritage Group in their surveys. This is a new state record, somewhat bridging records in the Pine Barrens of NJ and those of the North Carolina.

Who doestn't love a nicely striped bee? Truchusa dorsalis on display here with stripes made on Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia and later picked up by the Virginia Heritage Group in their surveys. This is a new state record, somewhat bridging records in the Pine Barrens of NJ and those of the North Carolina.

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Trachusa dorsalis, f, face, Sussex Co., VA
Trachusa dorsalis, f, face, Sussex Co., VA
Trachusa dorsalis, f, face, Sussex Co., VA

Who doestn't love a nicely striped bee? Truchusa dorsalis on display here with stripes made on Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia and later picked up by the Virginia Heritage Group in their surveys. This is a new state record, somewhat bridging records in the Pine Barrens of NJ and those of the North Carolina.

Who doestn't love a nicely striped bee? Truchusa dorsalis on display here with stripes made on Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia and later picked up by the Virginia Heritage Group in their surveys. This is a new state record, somewhat bridging records in the Pine Barrens of NJ and those of the North Carolina.

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Trachusa dorsalis, f, left, Sussex Co., VA
Trachusa dorsalis, f, left, Sussex Co., VA
Trachusa dorsalis, f, left, Sussex Co., VA

Who doestn't love a nicely striped bee? Truchusa dorsalis on display here with stripes made on Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia and later picked up by the Virginia Heritage Group in their surveys. This is a new state record, somewhat bridging records in the Pine Barrens of NJ and those of the North Carolina.

Who doestn't love a nicely striped bee? Truchusa dorsalis on display here with stripes made on Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia and later picked up by the Virginia Heritage Group in their surveys. This is a new state record, somewhat bridging records in the Pine Barrens of NJ and those of the North Carolina.

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Trachusa dorsalis, M, Back, GA, Baker County
Trachusa dorsalis, M, Back, GA, Baker County
Trachusa dorsalis, M, Back, GA, Baker County

This is one special bee. We did a paper a few years ago and went through the 800 or so bees found east of the Mississippi River and looked for those that had not been found in the last 20 years. This was one of them! So Sabrie Breland collected this special bee in South Georgia near the border with Florida.

This is one special bee. We did a paper a few years ago and went through the 800 or so bees found east of the Mississippi River and looked for those that had not been found in the last 20 years. This was one of them! So Sabrie Breland collected this special bee in South Georgia near the border with Florida.

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Trachusa dorsalis, M, Face, GA, Baker County
Trachusa dorsalis, M, Face, GA, Baker County
Trachusa dorsalis, M, Face, GA, Baker County

This is one special bee. We did a paper a few years ago and went through the 800 or so bees found east of the Mississippi River and looked for those that had not been found in the last 20 years. This was one of them! So Sabrie Breland collected this special bee in South Georgia near the border with Florida.

This is one special bee. We did a paper a few years ago and went through the 800 or so bees found east of the Mississippi River and looked for those that had not been found in the last 20 years. This was one of them! So Sabrie Breland collected this special bee in South Georgia near the border with Florida.

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Trachusa dorsalis, M, Side, GA, Baker County
Trachusa dorsalis, M, Side, GA, Baker County
Trachusa dorsalis, M, Side, GA, Baker County

This is one special bee. We did a paper a few years ago and went through the 800 or so bees found east of the Mississippi River and looked for those that had not been found in the last 20 years. This was one of them! So Sabrie Breland collected this special bee in South Georgia near the border with Florida.

This is one special bee. We did a paper a few years ago and went through the 800 or so bees found east of the Mississippi River and looked for those that had not been found in the last 20 years. This was one of them! So Sabrie Breland collected this special bee in South Georgia near the border with Florida.

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Trachusa ridingsii, M, Back, GA, Baker County
Trachusa ridingsii, M, Back, GA, Baker County
Trachusa ridingsii, M, Back, GA, Baker County

If you find a Trachusa in the East, and probably if you find it anywhere, you are a good keeper of the land. These species and T. ridingsii in particular have just disappeared from much of our landscape. Unlike many other bees they don't integrate well with urban, suburban, agricultural interfaces as currently wrought.

If you find a Trachusa in the East, and probably if you find it anywhere, you are a good keeper of the land. These species and T. ridingsii in particular have just disappeared from much of our landscape. Unlike many other bees they don't integrate well with urban, suburban, agricultural interfaces as currently wrought.

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Trachusa ridingsii, M, Face, GA, Baker County
Trachusa ridingsii, M, Face, GA, Baker County
Trachusa ridingsii, M, Face, GA, Baker County

If you find a Trachusa in the East, and probably if you find it anywhere, you are a good keeper of the land. These species and T. ridingsii in particular have just disappeared from much of our landscape. Unlike many other bees they don't integrate well with urban, suburban, agricultural interfaces as currently wrought.

If you find a Trachusa in the East, and probably if you find it anywhere, you are a good keeper of the land. These species and T. ridingsii in particular have just disappeared from much of our landscape. Unlike many other bees they don't integrate well with urban, suburban, agricultural interfaces as currently wrought.

close up of image
Trachusa ridingsii, M, Side, GA, Baker County
Trachusa ridingsii, M, Side, GA, Baker County
Trachusa ridingsii, M, Side, GA, Baker County

If you find a Trachusa in the East, and probably if you find it anywhere, you are a good keeper of the land. These species and T. ridingsii in particular have just disappeared from much of our landscape. Unlike many other bees they don't integrate well with urban, suburban, agricultural interfaces as currently wrought.

If you find a Trachusa in the East, and probably if you find it anywhere, you are a good keeper of the land. These species and T. ridingsii in particular have just disappeared from much of our landscape. Unlike many other bees they don't integrate well with urban, suburban, agricultural interfaces as currently wrought.

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Tragocephala species, u, face 2, Skukuza, South Africa
Tragocephala species, u, face 2, Skukuza, South Africa
Tragocephala species, u, face 2, Skukuza, South Africa

Sexy Cerambycid beetles from Kruger National Park Genus: Tragocephala. Check how the eye wraps around the antennae and peeks out atop the head. Makes those plain old round vertebrate eyes seem limiting. Photograph by Anders Croft.

Sexy Cerambycid beetles from Kruger National Park Genus: Tragocephala. Check how the eye wraps around the antennae and peeks out atop the head. Makes those plain old round vertebrate eyes seem limiting. Photograph by Anders Croft.

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Tragocephala species, u, face, Skukuza, South Africa
Tragocephala species, u, face, Skukuza, South Africa
Tragocephala species, u, face, Skukuza, South Africa

Sexy Cerambycid beetles from Kruger National Park Genus: Tragocephala. Check how the eye wraps around the antennae and peeks out atop the head. Makes those plain old round vertebrate eyes seem limiting. Photograph by Anders Croft.

Sexy Cerambycid beetles from Kruger National Park Genus: Tragocephala. Check how the eye wraps around the antennae and peeks out atop the head. Makes those plain old round vertebrate eyes seem limiting. Photograph by Anders Croft.

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Tramea carolina, U, face, Lake Levi
Tramea carolina, U, face, Lake Levi
Tramea carolina, U, face, Lake Levi

Maryland, Harford County, Lake levi, shed skin of dragonfly, collected by Richard Orr

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Tramea carolina, U, side, Lake Levi
Tramea carolina, U, side, Lake Levi
Tramea carolina, U, side, Lake Levi

Maryland, Harford County, Lake levi, shed skin of dragonfly, collected by Richard Orr

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Treehopper Hand Sanitizer, U, side, Dominican Republic
Treehopper Hand Sanitizer, U, side, Dominican Republic
Treehopper Hand Sanitizer, U, side, Dominican Republic

Unknown species of Treehopper collected in the Dominican Republic and suspended in Hand Sanitizer for this shot. The HS allows us to float the specimen how we like, but the high refraction index of HS means we loose a lot of surface detail due to loss of reflectivity. On the other hand it often adds a smoothing and saturation effect to the photo.

Unknown species of Treehopper collected in the Dominican Republic and suspended in Hand Sanitizer for this shot. The HS allows us to float the specimen how we like, but the high refraction index of HS means we loose a lot of surface detail due to loss of reflectivity. On the other hand it often adds a smoothing and saturation effect to the photo.

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