Geodiscelis longiceps, f, chile, face2

Nectar dries quickly in the Atacama Desert of Chile, the driest desert in the world, and so many plants hide their nectar in deep nectaries. Bees visiting these flowers need long tongues and, in some instances, a very long head to reach the nectar. This tiny species was first discovered in 2004 at the very edge of the absolute rainless portions of the Atacama in northern Chile where it feeds on flowers from Crinklemat plants (Tiquilia). As you can see from the pictures, this is probably the thinnest bee for its length in the world. From the famous Laurence Packer lab. 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.