bee species cutout antennae, m, mexico, side

Mydrosoma serratum, Serrated Evening Bee, collected in Mexico by Sheila Dumesh 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.Females of this Honey Bee - sized species collect pollen from the Burrbush plant group (Triumfetta). Where this bee was collected in Mexico, its preferred host plant flowers only in the early evening hours. As a result, this Mexican endemic species is active during the day for only about half and hour . Males of the Serrated Evening Bee have interestingly cut-out shaped antennae and expanded hindlegs, likely the product of sexual selection, but, as usual, their actual functions are unknown as this species and the other 10 members of this genus are rare in collections and difficult to study in the wild