Andrena dunningi, F, side, MD, Harford County

Andrena dunningi. A large dark Andrena. This lovely female, in fresh plumage, is relatively easy to identify simply by the orange brown color of its body hairs along with the nearly black hairs located on its hind legs which it uses to carry pollen to its nest. However, after it's been out in the sun for several weeks it can also turn the same off-white coloration that most of the other Andrena bees have in this group. This is a bee of tree flowers. In particular, it favors Willows, but can be found on a wide variety of spring blooming woody plants, though seemingly avoiding the heath family, which has its own specialists. This bee was photographed by Sue Boo and collected in Harford County Maryland. 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.