Agapostemon sericeus, M, face, Pr. Georges Co., Maryland

Male Agapostemon's almost all have this same pattern, Metallicy green on the head and thorax and then striped yellow and black on the abdomen. Females uniformly don't have yellow anywhere. Why is good question as this male yellowness syndrome runs throughout the bee kingdom, cutting across families. Thistle Droege did the photoshoping and Wayne Boo the photography. 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 USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.