Hoplitis fulgida, f, right, Mariposa CA

More shots of a shiny bright blue/purple Hoplitis fulgida. This one from Yosemite National Park, collected by Claire Kremen's group. This one is a female, you can see its pollen carrying hairs under its abdomen. 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.