Halictus tectus, f, montgomery co, md

A relatively new invader to North America. Unlike most of the other invasive bees, this is a ground nester, most of the others nest in holes and likely come over as nest stowaways in shipping containers and dunnage. The first record for this species was downtown Philadelphia right at the rotary in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art where Rocky ran up the steps. Halictus tectus is a bee of the most desparate of man-made environments. It loves construction sites, playgrounds, and human wastelands of all kinds. It lives in the Mid-Atlantic right now but will sure spread throughout the continent. Collected by Tim McMahon at a horse stables in Montgomery County, MD. 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.