Megachile lanata. A common tramp species of tropical seaports and islands. This one found in Cuba. Am on St. Croix today, keeping my eyes open, but only finding its twin tramp, M. rufipennis. Otherwise the islands here are oddly uninvaded by bee species from the mainlands.
The Forgetful Bee. Sorry, anthropomorphizing is fun. We are fun. Therefore we are calling this the forgetful bee. It is also a male Florilegus condignus, collected and photographed by Chelcey Nordstrom in the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington D.C. on Pickerelweed, which makes sense since it is a Pickerelweed specialist.
Megachile chichimeca. This species runs from South Texas to Panama. Nice to see it named after one of the tribal nations of the region, but perhaps surprising in that it was named in 1878 by one of the early bee taxonomists (Ezra Cresson). There is a story in there somewhere. FYI, this is a very tiny bee on the leafcutter spectrum. Photo by Carlos Hernandez and Specimen collected in Costa Rica by Tim McMahon
Exomalopsis similis. Tiny, super fluffy pollen carrying hairs, found throughout the Caribbean and Mexico/Central America, oh, and Florida. A relatively weedy species found in disturbed open areas. For something so tiny it seems to get around. Photo by Sophia Athanas. Collected by Tim McMahon in Costa Rica #bee #bees #exomalopsis
Megachile otomita. Another Meg species from Costa Rica collected by Tim McMahon. Take a close look at the orange on the abdomen, its made up from tiny little fat orange hair lying prone on the "skin"
Andrena nasonii. Abundant, late spring to early summer; global range runs from the Maritimes to southern Ontario south through the Great Lakes and largely fades at the Great Plains, but with scattered records to the edge of the Rockies, runs south to East Texas, but apparently absent from the delta and lower coastal plain regions of the South as well as the Florida Peninsula; essentially ubiquitous, occurring in forests, fields, agriculture, suburban, and urban sites of all types where it forages on what would appear to be almost every woody and herbaceous blooming plant available, a common denizen of lawns, roadsides and disturbed areas; no management really needed for this species!
Megachile abacula. A lovely Meg from Central America. Costa Rica actually. Collected by Tim McMahon. Megs always have lovely tongues.
Halictus hesperus - Part of the great Seladonia complex of Halictus. The ones I am familiar with all look like this one from Costa Rica and they can be among the most common bees in an area, as likely this species is in Central America. Collected by Tim McMahon.
Coeloxys mexicanus. A southern species that ranges from the far south east into Florida, from there is arcs around the Gulf and heads into Mexico into Central America. I am not aware of what species of bee's (almost certainly a Megachile) nest it invades. I think of most members of the genus as sharp dressers and C. mexicanus does not disappoint. This one from Georgia.
Colletes ultravalidus from Tim McMahon in Florida. A recently described species that appears to be a vaccinium specialist. You can's see it in this picture, but it has an incredibly long face, probably to reach into those vase shaped Vacc blossoms.
Apis mellifera. The honey bee a series of pictures of bees from Phil Frank, local Maryland Bee Keeper and author. This set includes males (drones) and females (workers). Check out the eyes on the males that meet atop the head, the long hair coming out of the eyeballs, and the modified hing legs of the female that are one of many things special about this genus of bees. Phil also took the photos after struggling with putting together our new Canon R and various gizmos that make stacking work. We now are working with some thirty something megapixels of detail Winter is here so expect more picture uploads
Apis mellifera. The honey bee a series of pictures of bees from Phil Frank, local Maryland Bee Keeper and author. This set includes males (drones) and females (workers). Check out the eyes on the males that meet atop the head, the long hair coming out of the eyeballs, and the modified hing legs of the female that are one of many things special about this genus of bees. Phil also took the photos after struggling with putting together our new Canon R and various gizmos that make stacking work. We now are working with some thirty something megapixels of detail Winter is here so expect more picture uploads
There are prairie species in the Mid-Atlantic. Maybe a residue of historically drier times, more open savannah like vegetation, more fire, hard to say, but we still can find them. This is Andrena rudbeckiae which is found in Maryland in plantings and "wild" populations of Black-eyed Susans
