Xenoglossa strenua, F, Back, MD, Upper Marlboro

Xenoglossa strenua. People who know something about native bees often know about the "Squash Bee" Peponapis pruinosa. However, there are other native squash bees, and here is one. This is Xenoglossa strenua. It doesn't help that it looks mighty darn similar to Peponapis pruinosa...but both the male and females have yellow on the base of their mandibles, while P.p. does not. Helpful under the microscope at least. This specimen is one of the few, and the only recent, records for Maryland. Found in a sand mine in Anne Arundel County. An interesting note is that this species is not found in Maryland on any native plants, but only on the transplanted squash plants which originated in the Southwest and were migrated here eons ago by Indian farmers. Squash plants cannot overwinter in the region 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..