Hylaeus ornatus, F, Side1, MD, Dorchester County

Hylaeus ornatus is a masked bee, one that is always associated with wetlands. These wetlands can be freshwater marshy spots or they can be the backsides of salt marshes. Almost all have lovely red basal portions of the their abdomen. Some do not. We have series of these bees in a DNA lab to see if these two groups are different or the same. Specimen from Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Dorchester County, Maryland Photograph 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.