Lasioglossum simplex, F, side, raleigh, nc

Here is a little tiny nest parasite, Lasioglossum simplex, that parasitizes one of its sister taxa (likely L. trigeminum). While it retains the overall look and feel of its pollen carrying upright relatives, it has no pollen carrying hairs and its mandibles lack the tooth at the end and instead are simple sabres... While we know a lot about birds that are nest parasites, we know almost nothing about the bees that are cuckoos. Collected by April Hamblin in the Raleigh area... 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.