Triepeolus distinctus, m, anne arundel co, md, back
Red-eyed Bee. What a lovely palette this bee has of tomato saturated reds, on a shiny black integument with stripes of appressed off-white hairs. This bee was found when Mimi Jenkins and I went to my favorite sand pit to collect bees while our offices were shut down due to a security threat. Such a bonus. While there we saw an abundance of huge Dieunomia heteropoda as they foraged on Maryland Goldenaster. We also found this male and its matching female Triepeolus distinctus. Turns out that the nearest records for this species are Georgia and Illinois! And it also turns out that it is a nest parasite on D. heteropoda and this sand pit is the only location with that species. Nice.
Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all
Ye know on earth and all ye need to know
" Ode on a Grecian Urn"
John Keats. Original public domain image from Flickr