bee 19992, f, face, kenya

Euaspis , Redtail, collected in Kenya by Laurence PackerRedtails are another home invader of other bee 's nests. However, Redtails have a different strategy than most Cuckoo Bees. Instead of dropping an egg in the nest cell while the host bee is away, they wait until the nest of a Lithurgus or Megachile bee is complete and sealed and the female has left. The invading Redtail then breaks into the interior of the nest, opens up all the cells, pitches out any larvae, and possibly eats unhatched host eggs. She then drops an egg into each of the nest cells and seals the nest back up with resin and pollen before departing to begin her plunder elsewhere. This specimen was collected as it flew up and down the walls of the abandoned, ancient city of Gedi "“ an Arab-African town that was abandoned early in the 17th century. This particular female was looking for host nests to attack, as its ancestors have been doing among these old walls for hundreds of generations. 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.