Megachile mendica, F, Side, TN, Polk County, floral species Pityopsis ruthii

Megachile mendica is a very common bee, but in this case it is founded on a very rare plant, Ruth's Golden Aster. Collected and photographed by Philip Moore as part of a survey of that plant species and its pollinators from Polk County Tennessee. 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.