Halictus poeyi, female, back

Halictus poeyi and its counterpart Halictus ligatus are 2 of the most common bees in Eastern North America. H. poeyi is runs to the south and H. ligatus to the north. There is enough overlap in characters that at this point they are considered indistinguishable. These species are well in the known range of only H. poeyi in St. John's County Florida from the small but ecologically important Fort Mantanzas National Monument on the coast. Sierra Williams took the pictures 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.