Centris decolorata, F, Side, Puerto Rico

Centris...the tropical western hemisphere's answer to the Bumblebee. Bumblebees are absent from the Caribbean but bees of the genus Centris are of the same size and shape and fill the same floral niche muscling their way into large tropical flowers. Collected by Sara Prado in Puerto Rico and Photographed by Wayne BooCanon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile