Megachile pugnata Say 1837

The magnificent mandibled Megachile pugnata. Look how long and wide those mandibles are. Its not clear to me why this species requires much longer mandibles than others, it appears to not be cutting out larger pieces of leaves for its nests, but perhaps it is the type, processing and location of the leaf material that is important. Specimen came from the National Arboretum in Washington D.C. where it was foraging on some sort of wild sunflower...it specializes on composites and sunflowers are one if its favorites. Picture by Hannah Sutton. ~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~ All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish. 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 Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all Ye know on earth and all ye need to know " Ode on a Grecian Urn" John Keats You can also follow us on Instagram account USGSBIML Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen: Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World www.qbookshop.com/products/216627/9780760347386/Bees.html... Basic USGSBIML set up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY 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. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4 PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up: ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques: plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo or www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU Excellent Technical Form on Stacking: www.photomacrography.net/ Contact information: Sam Droege sdroege@usgs.gov 301 497 5840

The magnificent mandibled Megachile pugnata. Look how long and wide those mandibles are. Its not clear to me why this species requires much longer mandibles than others, it appears to not be cutting out larger pieces of leaves for its nests, but perhaps it is the type, processing and location of the leaf material that is important. Specimen came from the National Arboretum in Washington D.C. where it was foraging on some sort of wild sunflower...it specializes on composites and sunflowers are one if its favorites. Picture by Hannah Sutton. ~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~ All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish. 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 Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all Ye know on earth and all ye need to know " Ode on a Grecian Urn" John Keats You can also follow us on Instagram account USGSBIML Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen: Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World www.qbookshop.com/products/216627/9780760347386/Bees.html... Basic USGSBIML set up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY 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. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4 PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up: ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques: plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo or www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU Excellent Technical Form on Stacking: www.photomacrography.net/ Contact information: Sam Droege sdroege@usgs.gov 301 497 5840

The magnificent mandibled Megachile pugnata. Look how long and wide those mandibles are. Its not clear to me why this species requires much longer mandibles than others, it appears to not be cutting out larger pieces of leaves for its nests, but perhaps it is the type, processing and location of the leaf material that is important. Specimen came from the National Arboretum in Washington D.C. where it was foraging on some sort of wild sunflower...it specializes on composites and sunflowers are one if its favorites. Picture by Hannah Sutton. ~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~ All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish. 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 Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all Ye know on earth and all ye need to know " Ode on a Grecian Urn" John Keats You can also follow us on Instagram account USGSBIML Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen: Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World www.qbookshop.com/products/216627/9780760347386/Bees.html... Basic USGSBIML set up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY 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. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4 PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up: ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques: plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo or www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU Excellent Technical Form on Stacking: www.photomacrography.net/ Contact information: Sam Droege sdroege@usgs.gov 301 497 5840

Some rather bad pictures of M. pugnata males. Not sure why I selected this specimen. Terrible hair. But, anyway check out the large expanded front tarsi. Will have to get additional specimens. Collected in WV by Dave Smith who had fabulous numbers of specimens in malaise samples. Still going through them after 10 years. ~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~ All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish. 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 Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all Ye know on earth and all ye need to know " Ode on a Grecian Urn" John Keats You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen: Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Marylandhttp://bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf Basic USGSBIML set up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY 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. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4 PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up: ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques: plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo or www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU Excellent Technical Form on Stacking: www.photomacrography.net/ Contact information: Sam Droege sdroege@usgs.gov 301 497 5840

A large hole nesting leaf cutter. This is a male Megachile pugnata (subspecies pomona) from Yosemite. Check out the greatly expanded pale segments of the front legs. These are used in mating and lain over the females eyes. People make up all sorts of stories with that information, but we really don't know that details about why that is a useful feature. A number of Megs have the same altered legs and many have just plain old legs, so different strategies are equally effective, if mysterious. From Claire Kremen's group. Photo by Sydney Price. ~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~ All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish. 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 Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all Ye know on earth and all ye need to know " Ode on a Grecian Urn" John Keats You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen: Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Marylandhttp://bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf Basic USGSBIML set up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY 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. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4 Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up: ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques: plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo or www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU Excellent Technical Form on Stacking: www.photomacrography.net/ Contact information: Sam Droege sdroege@usgs.gov 301 497 5840

A large hole nesting leaf cutter. This is a male Megachile pugnata (subspecies pomona) from Yosemite. Check out the greatly expanded pale segments of the front legs. These are used in mating and lain over the females eyes. People make up all sorts of stories with that information, but we really don't know that details about why that is a useful feature. A number of Megs have the same altered legs and many have just plain old legs, so different strategies are equally effective, if mysterious. From Claire Kremen's group. Photo by Sydney Price. ~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~ All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish. 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 Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all Ye know on earth and all ye need to know " Ode on a Grecian Urn" John Keats You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen: Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Marylandhttp://bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf Basic USGSBIML set up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY 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. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4 Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up: ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques: plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo or www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU Excellent Technical Form on Stacking: www.photomacrography.net/ Contact information: Sam Droege sdroege@usgs.gov 301 497 5840