Images

Agrotis ipsilon - Black Cutworm - Another major crop pest. This species moves into northern parts of North America after overwintering in Texas and Mexico and then pulls off a couple of generations in weedy fields and particularly impacting newly planted corn. Yet another pest that looks rather beautiful when viewed up close.

Agrotis ipsilon - Black Cutworm - Another major crop pest. This species moves into northern parts of North America after overwintering in Texas and Mexico and then pulls off a couple of generations in weedy fields and particularly impacting newly planted corn. Yet another pest that looks rather beautiful when viewed up close.

Agrotis ipsilon - Black Cutworm - Another major crop pest. This species moves into northern parts of North America after overwintering in Texas and Mexico and then pulls off a couple of generations in weedy fields and particularly impacting newly planted corn. Yet another pest that looks rather beautiful when viewed up close.

Agrotis ipsilon - Black Cutworm - Another major crop pest. This species moves into northern parts of North America after overwintering in Texas and Mexico and then pulls off a couple of generations in weedy fields and particularly impacting newly planted corn. Yet another pest that looks rather beautiful when viewed up close.

Agrotis ipsilon - Black Cutworm - Another major crop pest. This species moves into northern parts of North America after overwintering in Texas and Mexico and then pulls off a couple of generations in weedy fields and particularly impacting newly planted corn. Yet another pest that looks rather beautiful when viewed up close.

Black-throated blue warbler, female, collided with a building in Washington D.C. , experimental photo of a stack of 16 pictures....feather detail came out very well, but thumb is pixilly....hard to hold that still that long

Birds regularly collide with buildings. In many instances building collisions can be decreased by turning lights off at night and using non-reflective glass. Sadly both these measures rarely happen. In major cities groups pick up birds that have struck buildings, here is a set of "blue" birds that hit buildings in Downtown Washington D.C.

Compact small bee want to meet compact small flowers. Anthophora flexipes is definitely cute, though, of course, we can let that shade its importance as a pollinator in the high lands of Yosemite National Park.

Now the back of the previous specimen, note the strong white/cream bands on the abdomen, one related group of Anthophora have these integument bands while the other species the integument is entirely black....tricky to photograph as it quickly burns the detail in the white.Note the tattered wings...this male was getting old...This bee was collected as part of a surv

This bee was collected as part of a survey of Rocky Mountain National Park. The size of a bumblebee, but has all those cream colored markings on its face that Bumblebees never have. A male in this case.

Third in the series, you can see the characters in the forewing that make this an Anthophora....the lack of hair in the interior of the wing cells and the regularly spaced little pappilate mounds with a hair sticking out of them outside of those cells.

Very raggedy picture of Anthophora occidentalis from the Badlands of South Dakota

Very raggedy picture of Anthophora occidentalis from the Badlands of South Dakota

Very raggedy picture of Anthophora occidentalis from the Badlands of South Dakota

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Female, Anthophora plumipes, introduced into Maryland from Japan in the 1980s...and now common in the DC region. Likely to be split from A. plumipes back to an earlier synonym A. pilipes due to recent molecular work

Introduced species from Japan...now found throughout the Washington D.C. area...very abundant and expected to spread.

Male, Anthophora plumipes, introduced into Maryland from Japan in the 1980s...and now common in the DC region. Likely to be split from A. plumipes back to an earlier synonym A. pilipes due to recent molecular work

The male of a relatively new introduced species from Japan. Likes to nest in adobe walls of buildings and underneath decks. Photoshopping by Thistle Droege and Photography by Brooke Alexander.

Anthophora porterae from the Badlands of South Dakota. This group of bees are the furry teddy bears of the bee world. Collected as part of a large study of the bees of the national park of the same name.