Melissodes trinodus, f, foot, polynia of milkweek, aa co, md

A hind foot of a Melissodes trinodis, but....what is on the end of that foot? I will tell you, Pilgrim, those are pollinia from Common Milkweed. Here are 3 paired sets, having glued themselves to the bee when it accidentally stuck its foot in one the 5-compartmented florets that comprise a milkweed flower. These pollinia are sacks filled with pollen that is of no use to the bee, but the plant hopes that they will be transplanted to another flower and effect the continuation of the Common Milkweed race. An odd system, restricted to milkweeds and the scheming's of the Orchids tribe 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.