Nomada graenicheri, m, side, Minnesota

From Southern Minnesota comes a very rare parasitic bee called Nomada graenicheri collected by Scott Leddy in his study of Prairie remnants. Few records exist for this species and nothing is known about its host. This specimen was from some of the bluff prairies in the driftless region. Nice to see and a new state record too. Photography by Ashleigh Jacobs. 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.