Andrena illicis, m, face, Prince George's Co, MD

From malaise traps set in the woodland bottomlands of the Patuxent River comes the uncommonly detected Andrena illicis. Here is a male with its notable orangish legs. I sometimes feel sorry for species like this, it has lived for millions of years, is not mentioned in the bible, nor John Smith's journals to the region, it is bypassed in school textbooks, and garners no mentions in naturalists chat rooms, yet it is as much a valuable member of society as cat, dog, or cerulean warbler. A. illicis, does not car as a dead individual nor a species whether humans ever see them, but I do. Pictures by Hannah Sutton. 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.