Melissodes comptoides, female, face, Talbot Co, MD

On the big side of long-horns is Melissodes comptoides...as you move south and to the prairies...you get tricked up with M. communis and all its color variations. Fortunately, there are ways to tell them apart. Often common and found in many open habitats...particularly if you plant some composites for them...which of course ... you are. Photo by Brooke Goggins. 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.