Willow Bee. Another set of shots of Andrena macoupinensis. This is one of a clade of bees the only gather pollen from willows. As has been mentioned before, willows are one of the secret powerhouses of pollen and nectar in North America. Stands of which stick around for centuries and create consistent forage for these bees, which may be why willow flowers are green, lacking the color signal of other, more desparate, flowers. Photo, by Cole Cheng. 04:12, 21 August 2020 (UTC)04:12, 21 August 2020 (UTC){{{{{{0}}}}}}04:12, 21 August 2020 (UTC)04:12, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.

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

We Are Made One with What We Touch and See

We are resolved into the supreme air, We are made one with what we touch and see, With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair, With our young lives each spring impassioned tree Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.

       - Oscar Wilde

You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML

Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:

Best over all technical resource for photo stacking: www.extreme-macro.co.uk/

Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland: bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf

Basic USGSBIML set up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY

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. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4

Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections

PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up: ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf

Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques: plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo or www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU

Excellent Technical Form on Stacking: www.photomacrography.net/

Contact information: Sam Droege sdroege@usgs.gov

301 497 5840