Melitta melittoides, f, aa co, md, side
![close up of image](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/full_width/public/Melitta%20melittoides%2C%20f%2C%20aa%20co%2C%20md%2C%20side_2018-06-20-14.49.31%20ZS%20PMax%20UDR.jpg?itok=v1Nj8XzZ)
Detailed Description
There are 6 families of bees in North America. The bee here Melitta melittoides is member of Melittidae. Melittidae has only 2 genera of bees in the East. Most of them are highly specialized. Our friend here is a Lyonia (maleberry) specialist. In the face shot of the female...check out the size of those mandibles. I am not sure what their use is, but it would be either in opening up flowers or some sort of nesting function. I know of no other bee that has anything close to that shape. Collected on Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Anne Arundel County Maryland. 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.
Sources/Usage
Public Domain.