Pararhophites, f, side

Pararhophites orobinus, Yellow Pollen Ball Bee, collected in Uzbekistan by Christophe Praz. This interesting little bee belongs to a genus of just three species from North Africa through Central Asia. They continue to confuse bee experts because of uncertainties about where they fit in the classificatory scheme. This is a work in progress. Nonetheless, they are unusual in that females carry pollen back to the nest all over their bodies and not packed onto the rear legs or underneath the abdomen like most bees. Another unusual feature is that they do not waterproof their brood cells or the food despite constructing shallow nests where the pollen balls might easily become waterlogged following a rain Presumably this lack of waterproofing discourages these bees from moving into damper regions of our planet. 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.