Images

Brachyhesma species, Australian Minute Bee, specimen collected in AustraliaLong: Until recently those who worked on the taxonomy of bees, or taxonomy in general for that matter, were men. Culturally that imbalance is now shifting, though we clearly still have a ways to go.

An early spring Braconid Wasp in the Agathidinae subfamily (thanks to Bob Kula USDA for the det) captured 3/20/2014 in Beltsville, Maryland, often associated with the parasitization of Moth and Butterfly Larvae.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

A small braconid wasp caught in a malaise trap outside the lab in Beltsville, MDCanon 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

Brown Lacewing, Symperhobius species? Note the very lovely carved brass mesh eye, Beltsville, Maryland

Look closely at the stinkbugs in your house...there is a great deal of beauty there. Halyomorpha halys

Look closely at the stinkbugs in your house...there is a great deal of beauty there. Halyomorpha halys

Look closely at the stinkbugs in your house...there is a great deal of beauty there. Halyomorpha halys

This is picture 5 from a 12 picture invited series by Matt Buffington (matt.buffington@usda.gov) at the USDA Parastitic Hymentoptera group using specimens from the U.S. Natural History Museum Smithsonian.

Agrilus ruficollis from my backyard. Likely from my moth sheet, but am running through my backlog of pictures and can't recall.

Agrilus ruficollis from my backyard. Likely from my moth sheet, but am running through my backlog of pictures and can't recall.

Beetles from Kruger National Park in South Africa. This is the start of a series of pictures of insects that come to the flowers in Kruger. This is a project led by James Harrison from S.A. and Jonathan Mawdsley from the U.S. I was lucky enough to come along and do some bee collecting. Interesting system.

A very small soldier beetle. This beetle is from the genus Malthodes and was collected by Brent Steury near Little Hunting Creek on the George Washington Memorial Parkway lands, operated by the National Park Service. While the species is still unknown, it does represent a new state record for Virginia and is in the process of being published.

A very small soldier beetle. This beetle is from the genus Malthodes (now identified as Caccodes granicollis...6/14/18) and was collected by Brent Steury near Little Hunting Creek on the George Washington Memorial Parkway lands, operated by the National Park Service.

A relatively common bee of Southern Chile. Seen regularly on Laurence Packer's expedition there in 2017. A lovely male. Photograph by Erick Hernandez.

A relatively common bee of Southern Chile. Seen regularly on Laurence Packer's expedition there in 2017. A lovely male. Photograph by Erick Hernandez.

A relatively common bee of Southern Chile. Seen regularly on Laurence Packer's expedition there in 2017. A lovely male. Photograph by Erick Hernandez.

Another Chrysidid wasp (cuckoo wasp) from the Hart-Miller Dredge Spoil site in Baltimore Harbor, collected by Eugene Scarpulla, photographed by Brooke Alexander Identification by Lynn KimseyCanon 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 o

Another Chrysidid wasp (cuckoo wasp) from the Hart-Miller Dredge Spoil site in Baltimore Harbor, collected by Eugene Scarpulla, photographed by Brooke Alexander Identification by Lynn KimseyCanon 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 o

This, I feel, is as piquant as a picture can be. We are a production shop, we parse thousands of insect specimens collected by many people. At times, like this one, specimens come in that are uncommon or part of a study (here from a survey of Hart-Miller Island by Gene Scarpulla) and you take what you get.

More from last year's expedition to Chile with Laurence Packer. Such a lovely country...we camped in a new place every day. Ping ponging from the Andes to the Coast sleeping along the road or in open pastures. Lovely people, easy travel, no problems with law enforcement people. This is a Caenohalictus species of some kind.

More from last year's expedition to Chile with Laurence Packer. Such a lovely country...we camped in a new place every day. Ping ponging from the Andes to the Coast sleeping along the road or in open pastures. Lovely people, easy travel, no problems with law enforcement people. This is a Caenohalictus species of some kind.