Megachile petulans, f, left side, Charleston Co., SC

Leaf cutters never seem to end. Here is Megachile petulans, southernish in distribution and with a lovely display of the complicated tongue architecture bees have. Tongue? This structure is so far removed from our tongues it is ridiculous. Really, think of bees and insects as coming from a different planet. How odd to have these mini aliens, so small, so marvelous in how they are put together at such a miniature level, the swiss watch and silicon chip have nothing on these exquisite beings.....or are they fairies? Collected by Mimi Jenkins outside of Charleston in watermelon fields. No bee, no watermelon baby. 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.