Agapostemon virescens, M, side, Mesa Co,. Colorado

This Agapostemon species is one of the most common native bees in the East. In almost any field there can be hundreds if not thousands of these bees visiting a wide variety of blooming plants. One of the largest of the sweat bees, it still goes undetected by most people who stand rather than kneel, face close, among flowers to watch all the mini-jewels that are visiting. This one collected at Colorado National Monument, Mesa County, Colorado by the Park staff and identified by Kim Huntzinger and photographed by Wayne Boo.Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile