Images

Seems like the pharmacy is mostly full of long-winded chemical names these days....but you can still find the astringent Witch Hazel in almost any drug store and how nice to know that it is a native plant. These are the left over calyx parts from the fall blooming plant.

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

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

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

The nicely arrayed Purple-headed Sneezeweed. Picture and collection by Helen Lowe Metzman. Helenium flexuosum.

Kick butt pollinator plant. Put in your garden please. Helianthus angustifolius - Swamp sunflower. The perennial sunflowers are underappreciated, particularly compared to the way overused Susans. Specimen and photo by Helen Lowe metzman.

Kick butt pollinator plant. Put in your garden please. Helianthus angustifolius - Swamp sunflower. The perennial sunflowers are underappreciated, particularly compared to the way overused Susans. Specimen and photo by Helen Lowe metzman.

Kick butt pollinator plant. Put in your garden please. Helianthus angustifolius - Swamp sunflower. The perennial sunflowers are underappreciated, particularly compared to the way overused Susans. Specimen and photo by Helen Lowe metzman.

Unknown Stinkbug from Hardy County, West Viginia. Photograph by Brooke Alexander. Photography Information: 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.

Glossy capped just emerged lava lampish sporangia of a Hemitrichia Red Slime mold of some sort. Note how some are conjoined and at this stage they have nifty transluscent stalks. Found during the Adirondack BioBlitz by the fungal hunting Susan Hopkins. Photo by the Dejen Mengis.

Hepatica nobilis - Roundlobe Hepatica. Delicate, an early marker of spring, understory species. Specimen collected by and picture taken by Helen Lowe Metzman.

One of the first woodland plants flowering in the spring....am looking forward to the plants waking up this year and the cycle starting anew. Specimen and photography by Helen Lowe Metzman.

Many of the bees of the world are small, here is yet another one, Heriades carinata. This species nests in tiny little holes, often those made by wood boring/powder post beetles. It carries its pollen underneath its abdomen and is long and slim, so that it can inhabit these tiny holes to lay a series of eggs in a series of cells filled with pollen and nectar.

Many of the bees of the world are small, here is yet another one, Heriades carinata. This species nests in tiny little holes, often those made by wood boring/powder post beetles. It carries its pollen underneath its abdomen and is long and slim, so that it can inhabit these tiny holes to lay a series of eggs in a series of cells filled with pollen and nectar.

A small hole nesting bee related to Osmia, beatifully arrayed in dark black pitting and short, prone, white bands of hair. Found at Wolf Trap National Park for the Perfoming Arts in Virginia

A small hole nesting bee related to Osmia, beatifully arrayed in dark black pitting and short, prone, white bands of hair. Found at Wolf Trap National Park for the Perfoming Arts in Virginia

A small hole nesting bee related to Osmia, beatifully arrayed in dark black pitting and short, prone, white bands of hair. Found at Wolf Trap National Park for the Perfoming Arts in Virginia

A small thin well armored bee. Just so to fit in the abandoned burrows of powder post beetles and the like. Obliquely related to Mason bees, the females carry pollen and are notable for their use of plant resins to plug their nest holes. This one from Prince George's County. Photograph by Elizabeth Garcia.

Denny Johnson from Eau Claire County in Wisconsin provided this specimen. Another Lasioglossum and one that was until recently cleared up by Jason Gibbs involved in thousands of misidentifications...many by myself.