bee, m, angle, south africa, wcp

Amegilla species, Unknown Banded Bee, collected in South Africa by Laurence PackerBanded Bees are a diverse group, occurring in lands all across the Old World and Australia. Asian and Australian groups tend to be more of the "Blue-banded" variety (see accountxxx) while in the Eastern part of their range they more often than not lack any blue reflections. Since members of this group "buzz pollinate", meaning that the bees upon approaching flowers rapidly vibrate their wings, they are being investigated as possible sources of tomato pollination in greenhouses in regions that lack Bumble Bees. Bumble Bees are now widely used for this purpose in Europe, North America, and parts of Asia, but their introduction into areas where they were not present has led to worrisome conflicts with other bee species and declines in local Bumble Bees. Tomatoes retain pollen inside rather than outside their anthers like most plants do. These specialized flowers must be shaken in a certain way so that the pollen is released and becomes available to both the bee and the plant. Interestingly, human cleverness has not made bees obsolete: studies have shown that flowers that get sonicated by bees have higher yields than those that are simply mechanically shaken. 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.