Lasioglossum pacatum, F, side, UT, Garfield County

Bryce Canyon in Utah is not just magnificent canyons and spectacular scenery, it also has lots of very small bees such as this one, Lasioglossum pacatum. One of about 200 or more species of Lasioglossum in North America, this group may be responsible for more pollination of more plants than any other group, simply because of their diversity, and the fact that they are out all year long, except for the winter, and their sheer numbers. Numbers That we have only recently realized and documented from the trapping. You, will likely not pay much attention to them even though they are nesting throughout your lawns and pollinating all the little tiny weeds in those lawns. These small, nonunion, workers, working without pay and almost entirely without acknowledgment make the world much better place, something that we all could do more of. Have you think your Lasioglossum today? 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.