Coelioxys porterae, male, face

An invader of other bees nests, this is Coelioxys porterae, found, in this case from Acadia National Park in Maine. I can't recall which species of Megachile (leaf cutting bees) this species parasitizes us but there are plenty of options in the park. This is a male, and as with almost all males it has all kinds of pointy projections on its rear end. Very cool, but why? Sierra Williams did the picture taking and Elizabeth Garcia did the shopping. 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.