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Heriades leavitti, m, side, Dorchester Co, MD

Detailed Description

A tiny bee, this one found in the flat marshy landscape of Dorchester County, Maryland. There is a pair of the species Heriades leavitti and Heriades variolosa both appear to be impossible to tell apart in the female form, but in the male form there are clear differences underneath the abdomen. Sadly, this is often difficult to see without some extra work softening the specimen back up because they naturally curl their abdomen when under stress. In any case a lovely specimen of a tiny hole nesting species that actually benefits from things like bark beetles. Photograph by Ashleigh Jacobs. 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.

Sources/Usage

Public Domain.