Beauty Queen Bees

Trigger warning: if you have a entomophobia (fear of insects), this post is not for you.

I recently learned the US Geologic Survey has a Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab. As part of their efforts to study and conserve native insects, they share a database of fascinating – and beautiful – photos of bees and other insects.

Remember, native insects are an absolutely critical foundation of our ecosystems. They literally sustain our life on Earth. Yet for most of us, encountering a bug elicits annoyance, fear or disgust, meaning we rarely take the time to look at them carefully, much less appreciate them. Plus, most of ‘em are tiny and fast! So it seems like a privilege to get an up-close view – without any buzzing or stinging to distract us.

Here are just a few examples from the USGS collection:

Two-spotted bumble bee (Bombus bimaculatus), found in the new pollinator garden at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia. Hard to imagine how they gain any altitude with that fluffy fur coat and those tiny wings, but these social bees manage to be prolific pollinators.

Vespid wasp (Sapyga centrata) found in Tennessee. Wasps are cousins to bees. They get a bad rap for being pugnacious, but they’re also critical pollinators. And look at those elegant antennae, natty stripes and iridescent wings!

Sweat bee (Augochlorella aurata) from Virginia. As a Marylander, I hate to give any credit to our neighbor state south of the Potomac, but even I cannot deny the drop-dead glamor of that bee.

Another sweat bee (Dieunomia nevadensis) found, I believe, in Colorado. She’s not as shiny as her Augochlorella sister, but she does have fab orange leggings to complement her tawny wings.

Appalachian Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis) from Racine, Wisconsin. Sadly, these invertebrate panda bears have gone extinct in much of North America due to pesticides and habitat loss. Only a few holdouts remain. Look at the fine tracery on those wings.

Ok, not a bee. But you gotta admit this jumping spider (a species of Salticidae) from Beltsville, MD is kinda cute, in an Oscar-the-Grouch sorta way.

Even though this ground beetle (Carabus serratus) from Pennsylvania is also not a bee, she’s just too gorgeous to ignore. Whoever designed that lamé coat with its violet border is a genius.

Visit the USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab’s Flickr feed to see more insectile fashion in the public domain. Better yet, plant some native plants and watch who shows up on your runway!