Bombus citrinus, U, side, Maryland, Carolina County

Some bumble bees are parasites. A common theme in the bee world...to the tune of about 20% of all the species. Why go to all that work gathering pollen when you can just lay your egg in someone else's nest. Then in an evolutionary spy vs. spy sort of way host and parasite developed complex strategies and counter-strategies remaining in such balance that neither goes extinct. Multiply that by millions and billions of such relationships and you have the planet earth. Friend, this means that when you take something from nature you need to give something back or you will run us to extinction. Photo by the lovely Kamren Jefferson. 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.